The ArdatYakshi Chronicles
by Guardian54
Summary: Spin-off of my Supreme Commander: Mass Effect 2 fic, gives Mirala aka Morinth back-story. If Samara seems OOC please remember belief can drive people a long way. Starts with Mirala main char but moves to Rila, Falere, Jaran, etc. Also in my SupCom/ME verse i.e. lol!OP!Humanity.
1. The Reasons We Fight

A/N: This is a direct spin-off of Supreme Commander: Mass Effect 2. If you have not read up to where Samara and Morinth are about to have a showdown (i.e. done Chapter 31), don't read this, it contains WAY too many spoilers. SPOILER ALERT!

* * *

Chapter 1: The Reasons We Fight

_Circa 3642 AD, 229 Years before Present Day_

Mirala leaned back in her chair, shifting her shoulders uncomfortably, the small freighter she owned was excellent for hauling cargo to and from small space stations or settlements, but it was NOT designed for comfort. Her armour helped mitigate it somewhat, but it wasn't as nice as typical clothes would have been. She plotted the course to the hillside she usually parked on into the computer before she opened up the heat shields, having passed through into the troposphere already. She watched the clouds zip by until she descended past the cloud cover into the gentle drizzle below, lightning crackled in the distance, but the main body of the storm had already passed, so she'd be fine. It was time to go home, back to the village she'd settled down in for the past several dozen years.

Her eyes widened as she saw the thermal signatures on the sensors that indicated active fires, and she zoomed the camera in until she saw smoke. Mirala growled and bared her teeth, hissing as she grabbed her assault rifle from her armour locker, then her shotgun and sniper rifle, clipping them to her back where they belonged. She checked her pistol holster and the ammo blocks of the weapons before pulling the AR off her back and unfolding it as the ship touched down.

Whoever was attacking her home would pay, that was for sure. Her weapons weren't top-notch, but her biotics were good enough to deal with almost anyone, especially the unruly people she sometimes carted between stations on her ship. Mirala narrowed her eyes as she looked around, her HUD clear as she began to run toward the village itself, stepping onto one of the main streets as she approached the eerily silent settlement.

The first thing Mirala noticed was the smell. She hadn't sealed her helmet so as to increase awareness of her surroundings, and the first thing she smelled was the scent of blood, of fear and death and of organs splattered across the ground. Those smells had long since become familiar to her as she shipped goods and passengers, since whenever she went to Omega or any number of other places, it would reacquaint her with the smell.

Then she started seeing the bodies, draped over pieces of wreckage, of burnt-out and often upturned hulks of hover-cars, slumped over consoles and tables. _I have a bad feeling about this…_ she thought just before the sudden wailing of a fire alarm made her jump, splitting the eerie silence. It was followed by a muffled sound, a familiar sound… _Gunfire… probably over at the other end of the village. Slavers? No, they don't typically attack Asari Republics space… _Screams, feminine, _Asari_ screams, cut the air before more gunfire cut them short.

Mirala walked through the eerily desolate streets quietly and slowly, constantly on the lookout for threats, wondering for a moment where all the children of the village were, since the bodies were all adults, no one younger than late adolescence was lying in a puddle of their own blood or twisted into unnatural shapes. The predator in her could sense the mark of biotics not unlike her own having passed through here a short time ago. _Another rouge Ardat-Yakshi? I thought I was the only rouge on the run at present…_

The first sign of the children of the village was a teddy bear, dropped in a shallow muddy puddle formed by the rain, and a small footprint in the thin mud in the puddle, as if a panicked child had run past, dropping her toy in the process. (A/N: If you want a feeling of what it would be like in snow, go see the cinematic after the first Soviet mission in Red Alert 1.) Mirala picked the thing up and looked down at the black plastic bead eyes and perpetually smiling mouth for a moment before closing her hand around it, holding her Assault Rifle one-handed, barrel pointed toward the ground, and closing her eyes for a moment, listening to the whispers of the wind and the sporadic gunfire in the distance. Having gotten a direction on the hostiles, she stowed the toy in her armour before moving off.

Mirala noticed a cluster of contacts on her radar before she moved toward it, it registered as a yellow neutral contact, and so she held her gun at the hip as opposed to the shoulder as she approached the door of the house the contacts were in. Her upgraded radar (she had always believed in Search ad Destroy battle plans) showed the contacts to be in a large walk-in closet, most likely, due to the radar jammers she'd purchased for the village's protection, the hostiles hadn't detected the contacts… but her radar was tuned to the jammers, so she could still see…

"Aunt Mirala?" a small, scared voice asked timidly when Mirala found herself dark grey gun barrel to purple face with a frightened child, having stepped over the bodies of said child's parents on the bottom floor of the house.

She lowered her gun immediately before the little girl lurched forward and wrapped her small blue arms around Mirala's midsection "Aria, what are you doing here?" Mirala asked, absently patting the little girl's back as she looked around at more frightened young faces.

"Mommy and Daddy hid us here while they went to see what was going on. The distress beacon's been activated; help should be here any time now." The young T'Loak said, burying her face in Mirala's armour.

Mirala could feel her anger bubbling inside her "Who was it that attacked the village?"

"I didn't see much, but when I looked out the window I saw three Asari… they were using assault rifles and biotics, and they all had some sort of ornament worn on their foreheads, the two on the flanks had fewer pieces than the leader."

Mirala froze in place "They've found me… I should have left earlier." She whispered to herself, her hands trembling and nearly stumbling from the revelation.

"Aunt Mirala?" the scared children chorused.

"Stay here, I'll get you once I've dealt with the intruders… it's time for a reckoning." Mirala cracked her knuckles, the children cheered, because they knew one of the toughest protectors their village had ever had was here to save them.

* * *

Mirala picked through some rubble before she found the source of the whimpers of pain she'd heard "What did they do to you?"

The mortally wounded Asari she'd uncovered was taking deep, gasping breaths "They're killing everyone they come across, just because we told them you were one of our own and that we wouldn't betray you for no good reason, besides, you hadn't done anything bad. Everyone's trying to stop them, but we were no match for their firepower…"

"I know… who were they?" She asked the dying woman softly "I need names."

A few ragged breaths, and… "I'm not sure about the two Disciples, but the leader, the Justicar, they called her… Samara."

Mirala closed her eyes and bit her lip as a wave of sadness washed over her, before it was replaced by rage, rage which she kept bottled up as she held the dying woman's hand "May you find peace in the embrace of the Goddess, friend…"

The dying woman chuckled weakly "That's what they said, right before they struck…" She trailed off and finally went limp, the air coming out of her in a final sigh.

Mirala, known to those outside her home village as Morinth, gritted her teeth and ground out "Curse you… mother." Then she shook her head to clear it and went on, slightly trembling hands clutching her assault rifle tightly.

* * *

Along the way, Mirala came across several more groups of hiding children and escorted them back to safe-houses closer to her ship, soothing them slightly from their panic with just a touch of her natural Dominate ability. She had discovered the ability when once she'd helped sneak children away from slavers in a small spaceport. The guards she had been about to slap with her overpowered Warps had simply turned around so their backs were to her and the children, and covered their eyes, letting them by.

She had taken a while to figure out the nuances of the ability she called Dominate, but now she could use it to help as well as harm, much to her relief, and she had used it to nullify pain in field surgery more than once, in addition to sometimes being a psychological therapist in some ways. Mirala was proud of her ability, almost as proud as she was of her Hammer of Thor ability or Explode, but that was another matter for another day.

She had worked her way through the settlement, locating all the survivors of her mother's vicious purging, and gathered them up before finding herself cut off from the last group, which was trying to hold out in a building. The presence of heavy weapons that were clearly visible on the three Justicar Order personnel, however, precluded rescuing the last group, so Mirala did the only thing she could.

_May the Goddess forgive me for what I'm about to do…_ She thought before turning her back on the besieged building and going for the nearest safe house she'd left survivors at. If she couldn't save them, at least she would save the children. Her ship wasn't very large, but they would fit, at least for long enough to get them out of the way of immediate harm…

* * *

The sight was one played out countless times during military evacuations, Mirala herself sometimes scouting ahead and sometimes turning back to help stragglers along as the long line of children trudged and in more than a few cases limped on toward the freighter. She had brought the ship somewhat closer to the village, though still shielded from sight of the village by a small line of trees. The oldest girls supported or carried the youngest, while the other ones able to walk the distance would hold each other's hands or hang on to one another's shoulders as they trudged toward the freighter, sniffling and sobbing. It would be heartless to make them go faster. They were only children after all… and after such a traumatic experience Mirala didn't have the heart to impose a forced march through any means, be they verbal encouragement or psychic domination/coercion.

They had nearly made it to where the freighter had been parked in a large meadow when Mirala saw the three red hostile contacts ahead on her radar while moving back toward the front of the column "Everyone, stop!" She called, and the children did as they had been told, turning their heads to look at her, still not seeing the threats ahead in the foliage.

Mirala stepped into the clearing, eyes narrowed, just as a woman who looked exactly like her stepped out of the forest on the other side and narrowed her own eyes, frowning and making Mirala wonder how exactly Justicar ornaments stayed on one's forehead while one frowned. "Morinth, what have you done?"

Mirala's eyes blazed in fury as they snapped wide open and glared at the woman who'd two centuries ago given birth to her "I gathered the survivors of your mad rampage, Samara, that's what I did."

Samara was impassive "Yes, survivors, those who survived your perversion, enslaving them to your will. How many of the adults of the village still remain after you threw them at us? Their numbers gave me a good idea why the Order sent two Disciples along with me, though I usually work alone. Now, you seek to make off with the children as well? This is worse than I ever thought even you could possibly sink to." Samara shook her head "Enough words, it's time for a reckoning." Samara raised her Assault Rifle.

Mirala tilted her head and nodded "Agreed" she said as she threw up a Fortress Barrier, as she'd termed it, wide enough to protect the children behind her from gunfire for quite a while "Children, get down! And STAY DOWN!" She yelled as she jumped, kicking off a tree and firing her own rifle one-handed as she caught onto a vine, feeling Samara's accurate fire track her and glance off her shields, barely dodging a Warp before swinging off the vine. She tossed her rifle up into the air as she saw the Singularity coming for her intended trajectory, threw out a Warp and caught the Assault Rifle in one fluid motion, detonating the Singularity (and momentarily throwing off the Order trio's aim) before she let go of the vine and landed to the right of where she'd started, across roughly ninety degrees of the compass from where the children were hugging the ground to avoid stray mass accelerator fire.

Justicar Order training was by no means lax, however, so Mirala found herself surrounded by the three Justicar Order members, one full Justicar and two of the older Disciples, who'd taken advantage of their biotics to Charge into position around her. Samara smashed into her and sent her sprawling on the ground, her biotics being the only thing that ensured she only fell on her ass as opposed to being flung away. She knew, however, that unless they were all among the most powerful, like her mother was, she could take one or even two Justicar Order Asari and come out on top. This was due to her vastly overpowered biotics that had manifested after she fell in love with her first, and now dead (after their first and last Union), mate, despite weakening slightly after each kill. Her barriers alone could hold them for quite some time if she did it right.

Being caught in three powerful Shockwaves from different directions while on the ground, and then a double-punch of Warps, however, left her barriers low and shields beeping for attention, so she didn't have any choice other than to use Hammer of Thor tactics. She shot up into the air before coming down fists-first, falling into a half-kneel as a massive shockwave travelled away from her, flattening trees away from her in a radial pattern as her freighter actually lifted slightly off the ground and its landing gears before coming back down with a slight creaking of said landing gears. The ground where she knelt was now more of a crater than anything, and she jumped out, using a biotic Charge to boost her speed while the Justicar and her assistants were still getting back up from the massive hits to their barriers, shields and armour. A Shockwave prevented Samara from getting a steady footing to hurl her own biotics from, and the Disciples were so much less powerful than her mother, one of the three strongest Asari of her generation and a Matriarch to boot, that they weren't so much of a threat and their Charge would take some seconds to recharge.

Mirala knew her mother, or she had known her mother, and Samara wouldn't allow anything to happen to the children if she fled, and since she would end up inflicting too much collateral fighting the Justicar if Samara had tow Disciples as backup, Mirala did the only thing she could. She slammed a stasis on the Justicar's barriers, which proved futile, before continuing the same, still going, biotic charge to get into her ship. She slammed the airlock doors shut and lifted off, only going through a cursory pre-flight checklist. She knew perfectly well the Justicar Order members' shields and armour would be strained by their closer proximity to the ship's thrusters' outputs, so they wouldn't have a chance to shoot her down due to too much energy devoted to Barriers. Mirala watched the nose cam footage and nodded in satisfaction; her Fortress Barrier was still holding against the high winds and shielding the children, who were still lying prone, though watching her ship, to shrink their targeting profiles. She couldn't do anything more for them, consciously, she understood, subconsciously, not so much.

Samara had taken another home from her, just as she'd taken her first home away from her even while she was grieving the loss of her first love, her first mate. She wasn't the woman Mirala had known in her youth. Over a century of Justicar service had hardened her, made her invulnerable to emotion. Now it seemed the service had made her invulnerable to thought as well, only knowing how to follow orders. Mirala didn't doubt for a moment that the Justicar Order was corrupt at the core, and that they only broadcast their message of justice to attract well-meaning, powerful Asari such as Samara. True, the Justicars still fought for the innocent, but the other ranks of the Order… Besides, innocence was effectively dead nowadays anyways. Thankfully, her father and the third Asari in their odd three-way relationship weren't innocent enough to be attracted by tales of the Justicar.

_They would pay, they had to pay. There would be no more running,_ Mirala decided, _they've taken enough away from me, they've driven me to roam the galaxy, without a place to call home, and when I finally found a place that accepted me, they came and they destroyed it. Forget just getting by in life, surviving and doing menial work, I found a cause worth fighting for. For however long I may survive at this task or however long it may take… I will make the Justicar Order pay for every sin they have committed._

* * *

_200 Years Later… 3842 AD, 29 Years Before Present_

"We don't blame you, Aunt Mirala" Aria said, patting the older woman's shoulder. The survivors of that particular Justicar raid had decided to hold a 200-year commemoration of the attack "You did everything you could, a lot of us would be dead if you hadn't dug them out of the rubble." She had been chosen as spokesperson for her skills as an orator, and had aspirations to go into politics. "There was no way you could have held up against a Justicar plus two Disciples, even with your power levels." They had been walking around the building the meeting was being held in when the topic came up.

"I know… I know." Mirala shook her head sadly "Still, I could have checked up on you guys more often."

Aria shook her head "And been caught and/or killed? That wouldn't have helped us at all, Mirala, and you know it."

Mirala bit her lip "True I guess… I should go before someone notices and reports me to the Justicars who are doubtlessly hanging around the area, I'll see you some other time, Aria."

"Bye Aunt Mirala, I'll see you later." The two women shared a hug before Mirala turned and began climbing up the surrounding wall of the area, using her biotics to hold her up. She looked over the fencing at the top, noticing there were no guards patrolling this particular area, she boosted over the fence by casting a Lift on herself and then manipulating the mass effect fields to move herself over the fence before she hit the round softly, using a cloaking ability she'd developed with her mind to run for the nearest piece of cover before she exhausted herself.

She was nearing her ship when a huge explosion behind her shook the ground and made her stumble before she looked back and her jaw dropped in shock. The convention area had been consumed by the blast of whatever explosives had been used. There weren't even screams, meaning… Mirala grit her teeth as she looked on the conflagration. _Curse you, Order of the Justicar! It wasn't enough to just kill every adult who was friendly to me, huh? You had to go kill all the children who saw your sins._ Her hands balled into fists as she watched.

A familiar voice sounded behind her for the first time in years "Morinth, I should have known it would be you…"

Mirala's teeth nearly squeaked together as she ground them "Samara, you committed this travesty, didn't you?"

Samara shifted her grip on her Assault Rifle somewhat "Reliable intel had it that you were planning an attack… I noticed the guards we had to watch over the children leaving the area, been using your Dominate ability much?"

Mirala, centuries ago, would have been blabbing the truth by this point, something along the lines of _Mother this was all arranged by the Order, couldn't you see that? They deployed the guards and told them to leave before they wiped out all evidence of their past sins, of YOUR past sins!_ But she knew it to be pointless, having inherited her mother's stubbornness. Samara was a fanatic now, incapable of understanding exactly how corrupt her precious Order was, since Samara herself was not corrupted… yet. Hence, Mirala sneered "No, but your Order's been using a lot of money on them."

Surprisingly, Samara nodded "True, ineffective spending on poorly trained guards could be a bit of a problem, but so are you."

Mirala had had enough "You obstinate ass! Get out of the way and I may consider letting you, the embodiment of injustice, live!" she gave Samara the finger as she held her Shotgun with one hand.

Samara remained impassive "Your mind is truly diseased if you think so, Morinth. The Galaxy will rejoice at your end."

"I'm not quite that big on the injustice scale, Samara, who's the pot calling the gleaming white kettle black? No get out of my way!" Her biotics rippled slightly in warning.

Samara's response was a biotic Charge, Mirala stood her ground and met it with a Propel (which her Throw, Lift and Pull had evolved as a side branch), since she knew if she tried to dodge she'd be caught in the side and thrown off-balance, and that would be lethal against an enemy she was by now roughly evenly matched with. She'd killed too many evildoers with melding before realizing exactly how bad it was for her power levels, though she still had to kill once in a century at least to stay reasonably sane. The two forces clashed and both Asari stumbled back slightly with the powerful detonation before Samara, being more experienced, recovered first and opened up at close range with her Shotgun before Mirala could. Her barriers absorbed several blasts while she blasted straight back, before she took a Warp and, still feeling the mass effect fields rip away at her, sent a Throw at point-blank into her mother. If it was anyone else, she would have aimed for the head, but since this was still her mother after all, she used a more diffuse field that sent the Justicar stumbling slightly while she herself recuperated some of her barriers and Charged around Samara toward her ship, shooting back over her shoulder as she fled.

A Pull field, probably ranking as a Propel on the power scale, grabbed her in mid-charge though and slowed her down enough to be hit with Reave. Mirala screamed in pain as she felt the psionic ability drain away at her vitality to replenish her mother's, she had never expected Samara to use THAT ability on her, and she knew, finally, that the woman she had loved and respected as her Mother was gone… so she too went all-out, stopping the Reave effect with a Dominate, though her mother was too powerful to be fully affected, only needing to shake her head to clear it. This still left her vulnerable to an uppercut, which Mirala nearly stumbled to deliver, weakened as she was by the Reave.

Samara swiped Mirala across her helmet with her shotgun, knocking the rouge Ardat-Yakshi off-balance before firing point-blank into the visor, the spread of mass-accelerator rounds scattering off the flaring shields before Mirala batted the weapon aside and gave her mother a shotgun blast to the belly, which flared off the older Asari's barriers before both threw Shockwaves at each other, blasting the two of them back at the same time. Since she wasn't wearing a helmet, the impact of head against ground was a lot harder on Samara, giving Mirala enough time to scarper away with a biotic Charge into her ship before slamming the airlock door just before a biotic Pull field could grab her, and keeping it from tipping her ship on its side using a Fortress Barrier. She quickly looked through the indicators and lifted off, retracting her landing gears as she went.

Back in the clearing, Samara groaned and sat up, having thrown the Pull field while still on her back, rubbing the back of her head as she narrowed her eyes at the rapidly shrinking shape of the freighter "You'll pay for your sins, Morinth, one day, I will find you and I will kill you." She whispered to herself before pulling herself back to her feet and stumbling off toward the still blazing building in the distance, now surrounded by fire department vehicles and ambulances, several rows of bodies covered by white sheets had already been laid out on the ground, while more were being retrieved by the minute.

_This, this is why I fight, to make sure those responsible for this sort of thing are brought to justice._ Samara thought as she walked among the rows of corpses, the destroyed remnants of the village Morinth had perverted two hundred years ago. She had killed them all… it was that day that Samara reaffirmed her vow that one day, Morinth would pay for her crimes.

* * *

Mirala punched her armour locker in frustration "The moment I think about letting it all go, about forgetting the injustices they've committed, the fucking Order goes off and does THIS!" She roared in frustration as she pounded and kicked the locker before finally slumping, utterly boneless, onto the cot she'd installed in the pilot's section of the freighter. The operation had all the hallmarks of an Order job to blame on Ardat-Yakshi, the high security, the guards leaving, her mother being around so as to make her even more fanatical to the Order by "proof" of Ardat-Yakshi "sins". She raged internally against the injustice of it all, of the Order's collecting of powerful Asari, incidentally the most likely to give birth to Ardat-Yakshi daughters, especially if said daughters were purebloods…

Finally, tired from her mental anger, Mirala rubbed her eyes and pursed her lips as the ship continued on its course on autopilot. She opened one of her weapons locker's compartments and took out a small, brown stuffed toy, a teddy bear, the same teddy bear she had picked up two hundred years ago. The fur of the toy was still flecked with now long since dried mud, but she didn't clean it, it was a reminder, something near and dear to her, representing the first home she had found after the hunt for her began centuries ago. She held the little plush toy in her hands for a moment, looking at it, almost as if searching for an answer in its lifeless black plastic eyes, before putting it on the shelf of her weapons locker. Mirala looked up at the little toy, tears finally spilling from her eyes _This… this is why I fight, to make sure those responsible for that sort of thing are brought to justice. This… this is the reason we fight._ She thought to herself grimly before getting back up and to business.

The black, plastic, beady eyes and perpetual smile of the teddy bear remained unchanged, and so did the dirt caked onto its fake fur along one side and its back, but something had changed in the ship, someone had a new purpose other than to try to live life as normally as she could. Someone would be out for revenge. Someone would be out for justice. _Someone _would be out for true redemption.

* * *

A/N: Yep, the Order of the Justicar is every bit as evil and corrupt as the Jedi Order was, is and will be, ditto with the Order of the Illuminate.

I told you before Samara will have a major crisis of faith, here's the back-story of that crisis of faith.


	2. Operation Dark Night

A/N: Couldn't think of a better name than that of Mission 5 of Red Alert 2.

* * *

Chapter 2: Operation Dark Night

"Are you sure about this, Doctor?" Dostya asked, her tone clipped as usual and with what would be called a Russian accent.

Brackman's hologram nodded "Certainly, everyone deserves a chance, Dostya, her sisters whom Mirala, or as some know her Morinth, spoke of never did anything wrong, they are imprisoned simply for their condition, and from what she had brought us it seems like they are locked in labour camps, not just regular institutions."

Dostya huffed indignantly "Doctor, I was talking about how you sent her on this harebrained scheme without even giving her better weapons."

"Oh yes, that, you know as well as I do that tensions between the Citadel Council and us have been high ever since we were, according to them, too slow about withdrawing our troops from the Citadel, as well as the existence of Ward Armouries. Helping her with additional weapons would be ill-advised at best and at worst could spark a war with the Asari Republics and the Citadel Races overall. It would be a terrible war of attrition, so many lives lost pointlessly… for them, of course."

Dostya crossed her arms over her chest and set her mouth in a grim line "I still think that just giving her an armour refit wasn't enough."

"Don't fret, Dostya, it's not like they're going to have too many heavy weapons in indoors combat. Besides, we…"

"Doctor, I'm serious, we need to give her back-up, even if indirect."

Brackman held his hands up in surrender "Alright, Dostya, alright, got it, going now. Who should we send? I believe we should consult Princess Rhianne…"

Dostya quirked an eyebrow "Why?"

"I want to borrow someone from the Aeon Illuminate for this job, someone good with tech."

* * *

_Location: Classified, March 3870_

Mirala jumped out of the Wraith T1 Fighter/Attacker, hitting the ground and looking up, seeing only an outline of the active camouflaged craft through her refitted eyepiece. The sort-of cloaking wasn't nearly good enough to fool Coalition-level sensors at closer ranges, but at the current distance even Coalition optical sensors wouldn't spot it, so the Justicar Order's sensors had no chance. This particular Redoubt was where her sisters were imprisoned, delivered there by the person they'd least expected to turn on them, their mother. She would free them tonight. "Operation Dark Night is a go. Repeat, Operation Dark Night is a go."

"Roger, Mirala, if you need support, just call an airstrike, much regret we couldn't provide you with infantry weapons."

She nodded inside her helmet at the man displayed on the HUD of her modified armour "I can understand, Jaran, Mirala out."

"Copy, Kael out." The transmission frame disappeared along with the Aeon-born Cybran's face from her HUD. Her Omni Sensor was lighting up many, many targets ahead of her. Fortunately, the Justicar Order stationed mostly the newest and most inexperienced here to train them, so this mission would not be absurdly difficult. She grabbed her Spectre Master Gear X Sniper Rifle from her back, which unfolded in seconds and sighted in on the heads of the guards outside. She put the rifle, purchased by the Coalition, to her shoulder before thinking better of it and returning it to her back.

She grabbed the Assault Rifle of the same maker and class off her back, letting the matte black rifle extend in her hands before using her cloak to hide herself in the shadows of the night, invisible even to the night vision devices the patrolling guards, Initiates of the Order, were wearing. She snuck closer to the first gate compound in the lone mountain pass that was the only way into the complex, noting the patrol pattern as she hid behind a large boulder, watching the two sniper towers with heavy machine guns and the four patrolling guards. She could probably sneak by, with her supply of grenades (Sonance and Electron, as Jaran had customized her armour to be able to bear many Coalition-level technologies without appearing to be Coalition make), but that would leave this threat to be dealt with later, not necessarily the best doctrine. Then again raising an alert wasn't good either.

She made her choice, cloaking and running straight for the gates, scrabbling up and over the wall into the small courtyard before the guards could notice anything, moving silently behind a pile of crates to hide herself from prying eyes as she shut off her armour's cloak to conserve power for when she needed it. She looked out at the guards' gatehouse with her pistol's gun cam before noting that all the guards were still looking the other way. She was about to make a move when the humming of an engine drew her attention.

A hover-car, armoured and with a chin machine-gun, came into view around the bend in the mountain pass, a bright searchlight sweeping the ground. Mirala had to cloak to not be seen as the searchlight washed over and exposed her hiding place. After a through scan of the area, the damned mini-gunship finally flew off, and Mirala followed its path as it flew away, turning off her cloak but maintaining active camouflage as she scuttled along toward the next gatehouse, wiping her footprints clear as she went.

She nearly held her breath as the patrol craft came back, its searchlight washing over her now cloaked self before passing by. She moved onto the path in the snow, stamped out by guards going on and off duty, and began walking along it, she wouldn't have to dampen her footsteps this way.

Mirala froze in place as voices came from up ahead. Apparently more guards were going on-shift at the first gatehouse, while the patrol craft was coming back from behind. This would be tricky… they couldn't walk into her, and she couldn't move far enough off the path and deal with her footprints before the patrol craft spotted her.

Her solution was to boost up, hovering over the guards' heads as they passed just before the patrol craft's top hit her armoured foot, with said foot bouncing off the craft. In a panic as the guards looked up toward her hovering, cloaked self, Mirala grabbed a passing bird, which let out an indignant squawk, and threw it off the back of the hover-car. Hearing the guards below chuckling and talking about the unfortunate bird, she relaxed as both threats left the area. Then she began walking carefully toward the next gate, the second of three.

The second gate was obviously more powerful in its defences, having two bunkers, two watchtowers and missile launchers sticking out from the bunkers. She had already dodged the trenches dug under the snow using her advanced sensors, though she still managed to collapse a fragile one by proximity, resulting in a bunch of grumbling Justicar Order trainees coming out in coats and with shovels as they rebuilt the trap. Mirala got a good look at the Bunkers and Watchtowers flanking the armoured, spiked gate, with a tough wall connecting the defences, bristling with barbed wire and spikes. There were even porcupines—three I-beams welded together at ninety degrees—in front of the defence line to slow down armoured vehicles.

Mirala's solution was simple but risky. She managed to get close to the front of one of the Bunkers, climbed up the concrete until she reached the roof, then scooted across it, careful to mask her tracks in the snow, before boosting off the other end of the roof, clearing a long, long distance before settling down behind a large snow drift to hide her boot… and leg, as she discovered, imprints in the snow.

She slogged out of the snow drift toward the next gatehouse, dodging another two patrols and three patrol craft passes before she came into sight of the next gate. Her jaw dropped and she nearly laughed, seeing the defences arrayed there. Two SAM turrets sat atop two of the four Bunkers, the other two were topped off by tall watchtowers, and the walls between the bunkers were glazed over with ice and spikes, and so were the bunkers themselves. She decided to do things the simplest way possible… a flyover. There was only one minor issue…

"Anti-flyer netting?" Mirala whispered to herself… hmm, seemed she'd have to do things the hard way then… She grabbed onto a spike, tested its strength and swung herself up, stepping onto another spike before pulling herself up far enough to enter the bunker by way of an unused firing port, narrowly avoiding crashing into an Order Initiate who had been walking her way. Thankfully, she didn't have to kill the other Asari, yet, since she never noticed Mirala's entry, due to her being cloaked.

Mirala finally resumed breathing and stopped hugging the wall when the other Asari had passed, then moved toward the exit of the bunker, she was nearly at the door when it suddenly opened… a second Initiate came in and called out to the first one, exchanging a few words before the first one moved toward the door, closing in on Mirala's back. She didn't have any other option other than to prop her arms against the walls and raise her feet, spreading her legs and anchoring herself until she moved up far enough to climb up further, right up until she was flush against the roof of the bunker. The two Asari passed by each other centimetres from her chest, even though she'd exhaled as much as she could. Once they were past she dropped soundlessly from her awkward position and followed the first Initiate out of the bunker on the other side, following the other Asari's footsteps until they were past the netting, then boosting up and away, right up until her energy reserves started running low and she had to drop down behind a snow drift and resume her walk toward the actual Redoubt.

* * *

Mirala dove into the back of a transport truck as it went over a bump in the road. The armed guard in the passenger seat tensed at the jerk and asked "What was that?"

The Asari at the wheel waved it off as "Just the road in winter". So Mirala breathed deeply, taking a brief respite from her long walk before the truck rolled into the garage of the Redoubt itself. The driver and passenger got out and headed to the mess as more Order personnel came around the back to offload the cargo. Mirala had long since jumped off and hidden behind a pile of crates when they came around, letting her energy reserves recharge.

She readied her Spectre Master Gear X Pistol as she moved, it was time… "Mirala to Jaran, Mirala to Jaran, do you read?"

"Kael here, what is it, Mirala?"

"I will be going loud very soon. Please prepare for air strikes on all previous gate blocks"

Jaran's image in her HUD nodded and grinned "Copy, Revenants are en route."

"What class is that?"

"T3 Strategic Bomber, the only one with active stealth systems, the bomb doesn't have as much focusing as the other ones but still does decent damage. By decent, I mean something on the order of twenty kilotons directed yield."

Morinth didn't have much of a reply "What?"

"ETA of bombs is 40 seconds. Mirala, be ready."

Mirala was still sort of stunned even as she prepped her HMWA as well, slinging it across her back in fully active form, the active camouflage fields wrapping around it so it was effectively invisible. It didn't quite match up to Gauss Rifles in pure firepower, but it was more compact, lighter and could switch ammunition types "Wait, Jaran, I meant make sure the aircraft are ready… do not drop yet! Don't do it until I've secured my sisters!"

"Understood, you afraid their siege protocols might include executing them?"

Mirala paused for a moment "…Am I that transparent?"

Jaran shook his head "No, but human history has had enough concentration camps and POW camps to know that siege protocols often included execution of prisoners first."

"How awful…" a pause "then again, we Asari are no better, what the Order does…" Mirala shook her head as she gripped her knife as well as her pistol. "I'll talk to you again in a bit, Jaran."

Jaran nodded, his orange circuits dimming slightly "Copy, Kael out."

Mirala exited the garage silently, making her way through the mostly-empty hallways toward what scans had marked as her destination, dodging the occasional patrolling Initiate or Disciple and feeling the oppressive dampening fields that saturated the air, knowing perfectly well her over-shields, shields, and armour were taking care of it, but still hating the feeling. The Order personnel didn't seem to be affected, most likely because of their armour's capabilities… but the prisoners would be held in check easily.

Mirala came to the prisoner block moments later, it was a wing of its own, almost, attached to the rest of the fortress only by one hallway, and in the middle of the fortress's walls. With no other ways out (the windows were too small and/or narrow), this hallway would be a kill zone if the prisoners tried to flee, and it was proven as such by the two manned machine guns in bunkers extending from the walls on either side of the inside of the hallway. That would be a problem when things came down to a fight, but she had a solution. That was for later though as for now, she needed to find out how the prisoners were and how many guards she would need to neutralize.

The prisoners' area was effectively several dorm rooms with a mess hall and washroom. Her sisters were the only prisoners here at the moment, since the Order was cautious not to put too many of their eggs in one basket. Her twin sisters had chosen to go into exile instead of being executed, Mirala hadn't let them present her with that choice.

When she'd discovered her condition, she managed to hide her mate's body for long enough to pack some of her things and get away, off Thessia, she had been in a state of sheer panic over what she had done. She still felt guilty over the number of people she'd killed over the years, even though they had all been deserving of death. Pimps, slavers, organ dealers, those had been the sort of people she would kill brutally and painfully with Union, the worst of the worst, absorbing some of their experience and knowledge while herself staving off the addiction for power, for death, with the pure will borne of being the daughter of two extremely powerful Asari.

Mirala found her sisters in one of the rooms, sleeping peacefully on the top and bottom bunks of the same bed, identical faces, both similar to her own (and their mother's) but not the same, noticeably rounder in their jaw and cheek lines, thanks to Benezia, the trio's father. Both were at peace in sleep. They looked much as they had centuries ago when she first ran away from home, but they were noticeably more tired, more downtrodden, more weary. What had the accursed Order done to her sisters?

She knew exactly what she had to do after scouting the whole area, disabling security cameras with footage of empty halls as she went. She used Dominate on the two guards at the dorm room and made them inject themselves with the sedatives they carried. Then she went through the central building, making the other guards do the same while gathering their weapons, after all, they were only Initiates, not the true sinners of the Order, and didn't deserve to die for what little they could have done up to this point in their Order careers. They also weren't that powerful, since only the high-powered, such as Samara, who was one of the most powerful Asari alive today, were sent out as independently operating Justicars, so they wouldn't make much of a difference for the Order anyways. Killing them would be easy, but pointless, if there was one thing Mirala hated, it was killing for no real purpose. Making a point did not count as a purpose.

Mirala used Dominate on the two Asari manning the machine guns at the end of the long hallway between the Ardat-Yakshi quarters and the rest of the fortress, making them simply stand there as she walked up with the hypo sprays loaded with sedative, injecting both of them before running back to wake up her sisters.

"Rila, Falere, get up!" She hissed.

Both of the younger Asari made grumbling noises as they got up, still wearing their prisoner jumpsuits and rubbing their eyes before standing and taking a good look at the one who had roused them. They gaped, and one of them (Mirala wasn't sure which due to the long separation) asked "Mirala? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to bust you out, I know I should have come sooner, but I'm here now." She hissed urgently.

The other one stepped forward "Mirala, you know perfectly well you're dooming all of us to death by doing this, I'm not about to let you put Falere's life in danger."

Mirala knew which was which now "Come with me, trust me, I wouldn't do this for nothing." She led her twins, who sighed at their fates, knowing now it was either get out or be killed, down to the cafeteria.

"Sisters," Mirala said as he handed then the armour she'd brought with her in storage "I have back-up, they can pick us up in seconds once we get outside, the Order's been growing even more corrupt while you were locked up in here, sisters, it's time to make them pay! I know we wish not to be forced into imprisonment, if we are to leave Asari Republics Space, it will be of our own volition! I have allies who can make that dream come true! The Coalition of Species backs us, and their leaders have informed me that they are willing to go to war with the Council on our behalf if that is what it takes to make things right! The Cybran Nation in particular has offered us asylum on their capital planet, Procyon, as a show of faith! Let's get moving, the weapons the Coalition uses on their vehicles are too powerful to use to break us out, so we'll have to go out a side door of the base. I know it's a long way, but things will be fine."

* * *

Mirala used her Dominate ability to great effect as she snuck through the building with her sisters, sedating guards as she went, it was more effective to leave the guards alive and unharmed so that the Order would lose more face, unless they covered this whole mess up. They were nearing the exit, only a few halls and rooms away, when alarms began blaring "Damn it… Jaran, Jaran do you read?"

The Aeon-born Cybran's face appeared on the screen "I read you, what is it, Mirala?"

"Alarms have gone off, requesting air strike on gates, NOW!"

Jaran seemed to have realized Revenants dropped a Hiroshima-class nuke with every run, and that was too much for this task "Janus F/B's en route, ETA ten seconds, hang in there, you need ground support?"

"No, I can handle this…" She didn't have time for sedatives anymore, so she traded her pistol for the Assault Rifle still slung across her back, quickly gunning down the three Initiates that appeared at the end of the hall with Assault Rifles, throwing up a Fortress Barrier to protect her group from stray rounds in the exchange and detonating the Singularities they threw with a Warp of her own "Hurry, girls, take their weapons, you know how to use Barriers, right? Also, take my Shotgun, Rila, Falere, my Pistol, I'll make do, you guys need some high-end gear to get past this…"

There was an identical pair of affirmatives as Rila and Falere grabbed the guns off the dead Disciples. A voice came over the PA "Fugitives are headed for the east exit, stop them there!"

Mirala turned to the crew "This is it, girls, I'll cloak and go ahead, neutralizing any resistance I find, follow my trail, shoot any Order personnel you see, it's time the Order paid for their crimes." She palmed her rifle, looking at the determined faces of the former prisoners, her sisters, behind her, and then nodded "let's move." She vanished from sight as her cloak engaged.

Several Initiates and some Disciples were setting up a barricade down the next hall, right up until a small, black-shelled, roughly round device landed among them and exploded with a beep, painting the walls with their parts, ashes and scorch marks before Mirala ghosted by.

The next kills were more awkward, since the one she'd decided to knife in the back, who her grenade had missed along with two others, let out a cry and gurgle before being silenced, so she came under fire from the surviving two Initiates as well as various Order troops who poured onto the catwalks over the room. Her shimmering over-shield bubble gave her away, and so they began throwing powers and bullets at her en masse as well as a few ineffective tech attacks. Her shields were actually going down at a noticeable rate now, and that was worrying. Mirala did the only thing she could think of, sticking both ends of one catwalk with Sonance Grenades on the bottom.

The catwalk, along with everyone on it, came crashing down, and she gunned the stunned Asari, all of them, down while their shields were out, then turned her attention to the other catwalk, completely ignoring the two Initiates on the ground floor until they threw Warp fields at her, to which she responded by putting both in Stasis while hurling grenades to stick to the underside of the second catwalk. The Disciples on top fled, most of them, before the explosions claimed the rest and sent the catwalk down straight onto the two Initiates below, smashing them into purple pulpy messes that Mirala winced at (or maybe it was the bullet wound through her chest that was being repaired rapidly by medi-gel injectors) before clicking her comm. "This area's clear, let's move."

She threw grenades at the archways the Disciples had come through (at the broken ends of the catwalks) to make sure they stayed away while the three Ardat-Yakshi ran from one side of the room to the other. She checked around the door, then swung through and opened fire at the off-guard Order personnel inside, reducing them to piles of rapidly cooling flesh in seconds with her fully upgraded HMWA. She spoke as she ran for the exit "Final stretch, girls, once we're outside…" Mirala stopped short just before being smashed into the snow by those following her, all eleven of them sprawling out into the snow and the sight of the sheer carnage outside.

Three invisible sources were spitting glowing rounds at the SAM turrets all over the Redoubt, blasting them apart within a few shots each (in actual fact, only one shot was needed for each but the Heavy Plasma Cannons of the Broadswords would cycle before the rounds got there). The women clamoured upright, then made a run for the Restorer parked in the snow. "Alright, let's dust off." Mirala called as she scrambled in last.

"Got it, Mirala, let's get these guys out of here. Should I bomb the Redoubt to oblivion?" Jaran inquired.

Mirala looked at the holographic map of the area, noting all three gates were now blazing seas of fire "No, let it stand so that all the Galaxy may know that we were not the target of this" she put up air quotes "'terrorist attack', we were the ones who got away from the Justicar Order's corrupt fist."

"An excellent idea, alright, recalling the Broadswords, Restorer and Janus F/Bs now. The Revenants are already on board… good." The Restorer Gunship made a subtle hum in the PA to make sure you knew it was moving as it flew off toward low orbit where the Escort Carrier, with active stealth systems but no cloaking, sat waiting for it and the other air units to come back.

Mirala turned to her siblings who had just been liberated from the Redoubt "We're free, sisters, free at last from the Justicars' oppression, how does it feel to be free?"

* * *

_Procyon, March 3870_

"Sisters!" Mirala called as she entered the hospital room, causing her sisters to fall silent. "I bring favourable news!" She posed dramatically.

Rila frowned "What is it?"

"Doctor Brackman has agreed to grant us asylum on Procyon, provided we agree to a few conditions. He will explain them."

The holoprojector in the room came to life and projected the hologram of an old, white-haired man who appeared immensely wise despite not having a long white beard or wizard's hat (though he was known to appear as Gandalf/Dumbledore for Halloween celebrations). "Greetings, my friends, I am Doctor Gustav Brackman, effectively the leader of the Cybran Nation. My conditions are, I hope, reasonable and sensible. They are: Abide by Cybran Nation laws and statutes, most importantly, do not kill anyone with your powers. If you break Cybran laws, you will be treated just as all Cybran citizens are. If you kill someone with your condition, and yes, I have been briefed by Mirala here about it, I will have no choice but to evict you two from Cybran Space. Since most people consider the Cybran Nation to be the most open-minded of the Coalition of Species' factions, please do not kill anyone with your condition. A guide has been sent to show you around the Capital City and to give you the necessary gear for life on Procyon, in addition to showing you your apartments, they aren't much, any funds you earn can be used to improve them if you so wish, but they are, I hope, suitable for now. Thank you. That will be all… any questions?"

* * *

They hadn't talked much before the twins were released from the medical check-ups with clean bills of health, well, as clean as Ardat-Yakshi could get anyways.

"Mirala, I never expected you to turn up in our lives again." Falere said then chuckled as she stirred her fruit punch with the straw she'd gotten from the counter "You always did have flair for the dramatic…"

Rila was frowning, being the more serious twin "How many did you kill before you decided enough was enough?"

Mirala was looking at the table as she shrugged "Surprisingly few. After I ran away from home, I resolved to show the Galaxy, or rather to show myself, that not all Ardat-Yakshi if let loose will turn into psychopathic murderers. I've only killed about thirty times, and all of them except the first were the perpetrators of injustice, slavers, pirate leaders, organ dealers, and the like. I gave them what they deserved…"

Falere leaned forward toward her older sister "I wanted to ask, what else besides the forced exile thing made you hate the Justicar Order so badly as to risk your life attacking one of their Redoubts?"

Mirala sighed and her eyes took on a faraway look "About two and a half centuries ago, I was happily settled into a village, living just a normal life as a normal Asari." She looked down toward her punch "all that changed one day when the Justicar Order found out where I was. They gave Samara false intel that said I'd perverted the whole village into worshipping me and bringing young people to me as sacrifices, and sent two Disciples to help her. The three of them came and killed everyone except the children. When I got back from a freight hauling run, the village was in ruins and I had to rescue the children. My freighter was the only option for evac I knew of, so I was guiding the children to where I'd parked it when Samara and co accosted me. I couldn't deal with them, so, having ensured the children's safety first, I entered a brief firefight before getting by them and flying away, hoping that Samara hadn't entirely lost her decency." She took a shuddering breath "I was right, she turned the children over to the relevant authorities, and they were sent to foster homes and orphanages… I checked up on them often, bypassing the guards and visiting sometimes, if that was what it took. Two centuries later, the kids decided to hold a meeting to remember the events of that stormy day. It was a disaster."

Rila had an extremely deep frown "We heard about it on the news, didn't we, Falere?"

The younger twin nodded "Yeah, something about an attack on the survivors by an Ardat-Yakshi… that was you?"

Mirala held up a hand "No, I visited them, bypassing the guards, to talk to them, apologize for not helping them enough over the years, while we all talked and remembered, the guards began to leave. Growing suspicious, I too decided it was time to go… I had not gotten back to my ship when the whole area went up… I'm not stupid, the Order must have planted that bomb to pin the attack on me and cover up their sins, but I will always remember the sight of that explosion, that monument to all their sins." Her lips curled into a vicious baring of her teeth "They sent Samara again, telling her I might have been planning an attack to kill the children, she swallowed their bullshit wholesale, believing me to be the culprit. Since then, the hunt for me has intensified, I knew that I had to make a move or be forever silenced, so, I went into hiding, plotting my revenge. When the Cybran Nation became known to me as an asylum to victims of injustice, I chose to contact them, and so, here we are."

Falere put a hand on her older sister's shoulder "You did well, sis, I'm proud to call myself your sister." She pulled the older Asari closer in a hug, conveying the affection that hadn't been expressed for so many years.

Rila nodded, though she didn't hug her older sister "I am too, Mirala, don't worry, we'll do our parts and integrate into Cybran society, and I'll keep an eye on someone to make sure they don't get too out of line." She glared at Falere, who had always been the troublemaker when they were younger.

Mirala nodded "Good, that's all I needed to hear, the hounds of the Justicar Order are closing in, I brought you all here so that you may see what I have seen, know what I have known, and so that the future, your futures, may yet have hope. I must go, if the Asari Republics find out, it may well mean war. The Justicar Order is bleeding reputation right now, and they will want vengeance."

Falere gripped her tighter "Mirala, no, don't leave us! It's been too long since we were all children. Please, stay a little while longer…" She mumbled into her oldest sister's neck.

Mirala smiled a bittersweet smile as she patted her youngest sister's back "I'll always be with you, Falere, but you must understand, I have to do this, I represent a danger not only to your safety here on Procyon but to galactic peace. I need to go back to non-Coalition Space, lead them on a merry chase… perhaps one day, I'll be back." She pulled back and wiped her younger sister's tears with her thumb "But I will stay for a couple days, don't worry."

* * *

They had spent the past three days catching up and enjoying each other's company, remembering the good times centuries ago when they were still one big happy family. But in the end, Mirala had to leave again; it wasn't safe to galactic peace for her to stay.

Before she left though, after the tears, when all three sisters had accepted that she would be leaving, Mirala decided to state her intentions, holding up a finger dramatically and striking a pose before saying out loud to the Central Gate Complex's cafeteria in a deep, extremely serious tone "I shall return."

It would be one hell of a long time before she figured out why a large number of the humans in the room burst out laughing at her statement.

* * *

A/N: I thought the Samara/Morinth thing was a bit too clichéd in many ways in canon, so I'm spicing things up a little.


	3. A New World

A/N: Short chapter talking about Jaran showing the twins some of the things around Procyon. The romance part will begin fairly soon… as soon as I get around to finishing this off, most certainly before SupCom: The Reclaimers, after SupCom: ME 2 and most likely after Mass Effect: Galactic Colossus (a short piece on everyone's reactions during the Council negotiations with the Coalition after the Turian War).

* * *

Chapter 3: A New World

_CGC Cafeteria, Procyon, March 19, 3870_

After seeing their sister off, Rila and Falere were directed to meet their guide to the Cybran Nation at the exit to the Central Gate Complex whenever they felt ready to do so. That meant, since they had already finished enjoying a luxurious lunch, right now.

The two sisters were standing under the large fluorescent EXIT sign waiting until someone asked them what they were doing there. Rila responded with "We were told to wait at the exit to the café for our guide to life on Procyon."

The woman who'd approached, with jet black hair and brown eyes, frowned "Oh, right, Jaran did tell me to be on the lookout for anyone fitting your descriptions. He's over at THAT exit." She pointed, apparently, there were three main exits to the rectangular café, one to either side of the servicing area and one at the back.

Rila nodded "Thank, and you are?"

"Hannah Shepard, good to meet you guys, by the way, keep away from the area the other Asari on Procyon live in, I hope your sister already told you about that." She shook hands with the two Ardat-Yakshi as if their condition was nothing to be afraid of, unlike what most in Council space would do. "Jaran will show you're your housing arrangements and discuss employment opportunities with you."

"Thank you, Miss Shepard." Falere bowed respectfully.

"See you girls some other time." Hannah walked by and out of the café.

* * *

_CGC Cafeteria, Procyon, March 19, 3870_

"Ah, there you are." Jaran called, waving his arms in the air, since he wasn't as tall as his sister was, or her best friends Ivan and Dominic for that matter. Considering how badly Ivan had a thing for her and was also at Defcon 5 right now, maybe he should have bribed Ivan into being a signpost or holding him up, with the promise of putting in a good word with good old oblivious-as-hell Thalia Kael…

Sadly he hadn't thought of that earlier, which meant he was jumping up and down and waving his arms, making a complete fool of himself simply because he was barely above average height in the crowd. Ivan, Dom or most importantly Thalia would have been at least able to see over and be seen (in Thalia's case) over the heads of the "crowd". Okay, so it wasn't much of a crowd, unless you counted the whole café, but it still took a little while for the twin Asari to notice him and make their way over.

"Hello, are you our guide?" The one who had a more mature air asked.

"Yep, name's Jaran, Jaran Kael, nice to meet you," He extended his hand "you are?"

"Rila." The more mature one said, shaking his hand.

"Falere." The most likely younger twin said, also giving him a firm handshake. "So, when do we get started?"

Jaran blinked away the sudden image of the last time he'd visited Thalia, she had been describing how Dominic and his wife Annika liked to spend time screwing each other senseless, and their usual initializing phrase was "when do we get started". Damn, a Cybran memory was hard to get used to, especially if you've lived so many years as an Aeon… enough of that "WE get started adapting you to life on Procyon right…" He looked down at his wrist computer pod's time readout dramatically "now. Follow me."

Rila facepalmed while Falere giggled. The twins fell in line behind Jaran as he walked off, looking back once in a while to check that he hadn't lost them. Rila noticed something weird first "Jaran, why are there circuits running down the left side of your neck? I haven't sent hat on any other Cybran."

"Oh, most late-assimilators end up with more circuits than those assimilated at birth." Jaran explained "I was born Aeon, but a genetic disease the same that killed mom… resulted in my younger sister persuading me to get the implants. Her best friends are UEF and Cybran, and the Cybran guy is crushing on her so hard it's not even funny anymore, but she's noticed nothing, NOTHING."

"Sounds like the gossip going around groups of Asari Maidens about who's got a thing for who and what." Rila commented.

"Yeah, we're all pretty much the same beneath the surface, where it really matters, I've found the Cybran consensus system is probably closer to the Way than Aeon government is half the time." Jaran shrugged "Anyways, these things are the air-buses, completely automated transit for inhabitants of all Coalition cities."

The bus arrived at the docking pad in a bur hat suddenly stopped before the barrier between the pad and the walkway opened up and people started getting off, then more got on. The trio boarded the bus before the doors rang the closing tones and began to close after the barriers outside did so. The air bus zipped away from the building they had been on and went over top of another that was going east-west instead of north-south. "The different floors for different directions help control traffic, but they're generally only an express elevator ride apart, and yes there are dedicated elevators for the transit system. Buses stop at each corner of a building, so changing buses or directions isn't so hard, you just have to to an adjacent building to take the bus along that 'street' going the other way."

* * *

After demonstrating such capabilities to the twins, and paying for the fees of the rides, they finally arrived at the building the twins' apartment would be in. "So what do you think?"

"It's a very simple system." Falere said simply.

"Yes, but you have to be careful which stop you're at, or pay extra times for taking other buses in different directions." Rila summed the negative sides up succinctly.

Jaran nodded "That's why usually people take one bus going in one direction and one in the perpendicular direction, that way it's less fare. So here we are, your home is in this building. Let's go to the ground level, get outside and take a good look up." IT was a short elevator ride down, since the CGC was one of the shortest buildings on Procyon.

The ground level opened onto what was effectively a park with a few paved paths leading to the next building over. "As you can see, we take environmentalism very seriously… note the tall buildings saving ground space." He pointed up.

Rila and Falere both looked up to see the buildings disappear into the clouds above. "Wow." Rila said after a brief moment. "Why are the spaces between buildings so wide?"

Jaran sobered up "To facilitate ACU warfare back when it happened regularly, all major cities in the Coalition were built in this general fashion, only outlying colonies had closer-packed, smaller residential buildings…"

"Ah, what's ACU warfare?" Rila asked, looking around at the peaceful, lush forest ecosystem that seemed to thrive around the tall spires dotting it in a regular grid pattern.

Jaran shook his head vigorously "Something you really don't want to learn about, it's a dark chapter of our history and while ACUs are still at readiness today, they haven't seen much real use since the Turian War, we deployed a hundred and thirty, taking over 400 planets in a day, support commanders in SCUs holding the captured worlds while the ACU pilots spearheaded the assault. You don't want to know, you'll be scared for your life. You just need to know the evacuation procedures, nothing else for now. I'll tell you someday, or you'll see vids about the Infinite War, then you will understand."

"Alright…" Rila frowned, that wasn't a good sign.

"Anyways, let's go back in and up to your floor, you're on floor 282 of this building, which is Structure 280-281. That floor, at least the corridor you'll be living in, is reserved for guests from other worlds, unusual guests with powerful psychic capabilities generally, it's been unoccupied for over a century. Don't' worry though, there aren't any ghosts." He grinned as they made their way up to the long-uninhabited floor "Here we are, your home is number 282-83, I know, the numbering is odd, eh?" Jaran smirked.

"Yeah, it is." Falere shivered slightly at the numbering

Jaran shrugged before continuing "No one else lives on this hallway, except me, I'll be moving into your apartment as part of my assignment."

"Hey wait, you're a man!" Rila stated bluntly "What do you mean assignment? You know trying to meld with us is lethal, right?"

Jaran blinked before realizing what they were talking about "OH! No, no, I'm just here to help you guys learn the ropes of life in the Cybran Nation, I'm going to be moving into the third bedroom, that's all."

"Well that's a sort of a relief, not much of one though." Rila said dryly.

"Don't worry, I brought everything I really need, my computer pod and neural lace, you guys will have to wear these credit necklaces so nanolathe credits can work for you." He opened a box and showed the sisters the necklaces. "Now we see the rooms only have basic things, such as towels and such, we'll need to get more complex materials from the nanolathe on this floor of the building. We can wait until after you guys look around though."

* * *

"This is the infamous nanolathe?" Falere asked, looking at the simple alcove with a single claw extending from the ceiling above it, curled back to not hit anyone. "It doesn't look all that impressive…"

"Oh it is, we'll be needing soap, so… which brand?" The sisters gave identical shrugs "We'll go with this one." The machine retracted slightly into the wall and a safety field sprang up to prevent people touching it. The arm came to live and moved for a brief moment before a pack of bottles of liquid soap appeared.

"… Like a shopping terminal, but instant. Is it transported from somewhere else?" Rila whispered. "How do you do it?"

"Transporting from elsewhere is inefficient, much simpler to just fabricate it on-site from mass and energy. There are downsides though, since soap is a colloid, shaking slightly before first use will help the lathed particles settle into a more natural pattern… there. If you need anything else, just come here and order, it'll be put on the account you've been granted for the first two months, nanolathe credits are our monetary system. Before you ask why it exists, food, other than nutrient slush, can't be nanolathed, so that's why we have currency. It also prevents alarming excess and encourages strategic thinking."

"Wow, nicely thought out, huh?" Rila mumbled to herself, still in shock.

"We've had enough dystopian literature, and the various factions have cleansed enough lost colonies that based themselves on those fictions, to abhor it." Jaran said as they continued purchasing household necessities.

* * *

"Okay, so we know what to do for stuff, but what about…" Rila stopped when her stomach growled loudly, finishing her sentence for her.

"You go up to the 1181-1200 floors, they're dedicated to every sort of commercial thing you can think of. Specialty stores catering to those who like more luxurious good than the standard nanolathe options, food courts and restaurants, etc." Jaran stood from the comfortable couch, the sisters did the same and headed out the large door (which they'd just moved the couch in through) again.

* * *

"You sure?" Jaran looked between where Rila and Falere were pointing and the twins sceptically.

Rila nodded "Yep, the gourmet food panels look too much like Thessian foods, we want to see what's different with the fast-food places. It's been centuries since the last time we had fast food, but it looks like the line-up system is still the same."

"Same as it has been since the dawn of fast food among my kind still, and that was nearly two thousand years ago." Jaran grumbled "So I choose the foods?" The twins shrugged, so he walked off to join the surprisingly short line, then again, this wasn't a rush hour…

"Asari twins? Lucky you!" The guy at the fast-food place commented as he handled Jaran's order, Jaran had known him before, having come around to scout the op area before he started this op of helping the twins settle in. The man had been quite friendly and talkative about how things were in the district: Normal i.e. no crime, peaceful, etc.

"I'm just helping them settle in here, nothing else, on assignment." Jaran brushed it off, though he had a very bad feeling he just jinxed himself.

* * *

"Tastes just like Thessian fast food." Rila remarked, chewing slowly.

Falere was eating a lot faster, and stayed quiet while Jaran ate at a similar pace to her older sister. Finishing up the chicken piece and crunching up most of the bones, Falere looked up to her guide "Funny how our homeworlds are so similar, you'd think we wouldn't both have species we call chickens, look and sound alike and probably can cross-breed." She wiped her fingers off on the napkin, completely oblivious to what was happening across the table from her.

"If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it is a duck." Rila said absently, watching this Jaran Kael person eye her baby sister. She didn't like how the guy was looking at her, it should be illegal. Then again, being an Ardat-Yakshi meant a greater air of attractiveness and sensuality than was typical for Asari… she wouldn't smash the guy into the ground unless he did something stupid.

Jaran looked over to her, frowning. _Why is she eyeing me like a piece of meat? I heard that she and her sister have a condition that is lethal to those they share Union with… maybe I should keep a knife under my pillow, or my pistol, so that my soul doesn't get sucked out. Wait, Asari have DUCKS?_ "Ducks? As in…" he tapped his holo-console with greasy fingers, the grease staying on his fingers and not binding to the semi-solid hologram. "These?" He brought up a hologram of a typical duck.

Falere glanced up and nodded "Yeah, that looks about right."

Jaran whistled "Trippy. We have those on Earth too, and they're still used for food today."

Rila frowned "Really? That's weird."

Jaran nodded agreement "So after dinner, do you guys want to go over employment opportunities?"

Falere shrugged, completely unaware of the fact that more than a few lewd eyes were watching her tits bounce "Sure, why not?"

Jaran nodded "Agreed, let's get back to your apartment." The twins might accrue a few admirers who followed them online and such eventually, but that wouldn't matter. There would never be a group of fans near Apartment 282-83 of Building 280-281, for the simple reason that it was very close to hallowed ground. The next apartment over, 282-82, had been the residence of the legendary Commander T'Soni of Cybran history for centuries, when she was not on duty beating back attack after attack from the UEF and Aeon. The area was a tourist location, and they had specifically chosen the next suite across the wide hall to house the Ardat-Yakshi, because loitering here for too long was forbidden. It reduced the chances of any incidents with the two Asari.

"What was that thing with four tubes I could see from the windows near the nanolathe?" Falere asked, noting the floor layout was like a grille of some sort with every apartment having windows leading outside.

"Oh, that?" Jaran paused, thinking for a moment before deciding the truth was best "That was an Electron Flak turret, it's the reason why the space that should have held an apartment is occupied. Four Electron Flak cannon barrels and the actuators that they require take up a lot of room when retracted."

"Flak cannons?" Rila said sceptically. "You mount flak cannons on the sides of civilian buildings?"

"We typically have a ring of eight defence installations every fifty floors." Jaran explained "One at each corner of a building and one in the center of each side. Myrmidon SAM Launchers are generally restricted to every other AA ring, along the flanks only and replacing the flak, since field of fire is more important for flak than for the smart missiles, the rings without Myrmidons have Zapper TMDs on the corners. They came in really useful for repelling Aeon and UEF attacks on Procyon over the centuries of the Infinite War." Jaran could still recall the collective memory of Shocker T3 Strategic Bombers flying down the "streets" and banking to lob their bombs into buildings before peeling away, chased by Nanite Missiles and Electron Flak. Dozens of kilotons (he had read earlier that Revenants weren't simply 20-kT, they were in fact more, but the blast was more diffuse than a Shocker, Ambassador or Sinntha, so…) of TNT equivalent detonating against flaring shields and structural fields… Banger T2 Mobile Flaks crashed through the forests below, firing an incessant hail of ammunition into the bombers that came over the horizon. Shimmer T1 Attack Bombers rained down their bombs and wreckage while Geminis mixed it up with Corona Air-Superiority fighters in the wide spaces between the towering spires… "TMDs mean Tactical Missile Defences by the way."

"Wow, that's a lot of anti-air and Tactical Missile Defence considering how tall this building is…" Rila said after a brief pause.

"Indeed, also, there are Athanuhthe-class shield generators at the top of the building and every hundred floors, some extra ones near the top since that's what really matters against orbital bombardment or experimentals, there's also a number of Ion Reactors at the bottom of the building, underground, to power all the stuff." Jaran continued "That's about it for defences, other than the SMD on the roof, the ground defence relies on ACU warfare deployments, and multiple commanders are always on-station in the defence of the city, it's the capital city of the Cybran Nation's capital planet, hence the heavy defence in terms of Commanders." It wasn't classified info, because knowing wouldn't help you. Even back when ACU warfare was a constant, squads of commanders would need to gate in far from the city and work their way toward it. Anyway, the capital city of the Cybran Nation was designed in the first place to be impregnable.

Falere let out a low whistle "Impressive."

"So, let's get back on track, do you want to go over employment opportunities now or rest and browse the video game selection I picked out for you guys?"

Rila rolled her eyes "Employment opportunities."

Jaran shrugged "Fine by me…"

* * *

A/N: I just thought of what the ME 3 Trailer in this universe would be more akin to:

_Camera fades in with a Marine in Cybran Medium Armour (looking like a miniature ACU but with less leg and arm plating, and no shoulder spikes) handing out Civilian Armours… Loyalist SABs, Brick AABs and Othuum Heavy Armours zip by in the burning streets while truckload after truckload of unarmed civilians are brought in, armed, and then sent on their way to continue to waiting areas, whether to be evacuated or thrown into urban combat for which the units are unsuited, no one knows._

Narrator: Two million kills on the first day.

_Camera flashes to a Civilian wearing Civilian Armour that has her arm hewn off by a Praetorian's beam and ducks behind cover before an incoming Loyalist smashes the smaller construct into scrap._

Narrator: Another seven million by the end of the first week.

_Wounded civilian puts the armoured plates back together and it starts mending, glowing slightly, then she goes straight back into battle as more land units stomp by, mowing everything down, soon, the field is quiet but for the Civilian soldiers' breathing and the thumps of the land units passing by._

Narrator: Every enemy offensive annihilated.

_Wobbly camera pans to a Galactic Colossus wading through enemy units like an avenging God._

Narrator: All enemy armies on the run, "regrouping" (Sarcastic Subtitle: according to intercepted transmissions)… somewhere.

_Camera pans to an Aeon ACU standing near its base, far outside the city. The head of the ACU turns to another pillar of smoke on the horizon as its left arm help construct… something. _

Narrator: reports are coming in from other races' core worlds.

_Beside it, Seraphim, Cybran and UEF ACUs, one of each, turn to look in the same direction._

It's a "well-coordinated" (Sarcastic Subtitle: By pre-Quantum Age standards) attack. So far, it's been damned effective… against everyone else.

_Camera shows a pair of Yolona Oss strategic missile launchers glowing before spitting out their missiles, the huge, deadly projectiles tracking high into the sky before detonating against something… Huge chunks of black, semi-organic warship falling to the ground show exactly what they've killed with five hundred Gigatons of TNT equivalent… each._

Narrator: They are the Reapers, come from dark space to try to harvest us all.

_Shows Orbital Defence Stations de-cloaking, fully prepped and active, and already turned inward toward the Reaper fleet already entering the atmosphere. Three Yolona Oss Missiles fire from the first Strategic Missile Station, and another three from a second, splitting up to head for three Reapers. Dozens of brilliant red beams, glowing blue-white munitions and glowing yellow rounds fly down toward the rear of the Reaper formation._

Narrator: Only one thing is certain.

_Camera flies down through atmosphere to show a toppling, Swiss Cheese-like Reaper smashing into the top of one of the towering skyscrapers and breaking in half without much apparent damage to the skyscraper (despite structural field alarms going off throughout the tower)_

Narrator: They will fail.

BLACKS OUT…

_Camera pans to a planet with smaller landmasses (more scattered large island continents than Earth), then zooms in to show a wounded Asari Commando sniping an unknown being in the streets below her, before looking up._

Asari Narrator: We don't know what they are, what they want, where they came from…

_Camera swings out to show Reaper ships successfully land all over Thessia, gunships sweeping by._

Asari Narrator: Only one thing is certain.

_Camera fades to the dark back of an Asari, looking over her homeworld burning impassively, sunlight glinting off the burnished shoulder pauldrons of her green and white armour._

Asari Narrator: If T'Soni can't bring help from the Coalition soon, there won't be a Thessia to save.

_Liara shakes her head and turns away, walking into the camera until the scene fades to black in meeting the pupil of one rich blue eye._

-End Trailer-

LMFAO


	4. The Ball is Thrown, the Die is Cast

A/N: The address is a huge hint as to the identity of the former occupant of the apartment across the hall.

* * *

Chapter 4: The Ball is Thrown, the Die is Cast

_Unit 282-82, Building 280-281, Capital City, Procyon, March 27, 3870_

"Well, this is the former residence of Commander T'Soni, you guys wanted to see it so here we are, the rooms are automatically maintained, and the artefacts are all in cases, so there's no risk of us damaging anything valuable." Jaran pointed the things out as they walked slowly, reverently, through the former home of the long-dead Commander. "No other Commander in Cybran history survived that many years in the field, that many missions, ACU or Spec Ops, or got that many kills."

"Hmm, interesting… what's this rock?" Falere pointed at the rather large stone, shaped into an oval, hanging from a necklace.

Jaran's eyes moved along her arm from watching her "Ah, that, it's a pendant of some sort that Commander T'Soni wore at all times, it is odd however that though it expresses some catalytic capability to certain classes of chemicals, changing them into others, it did not affect her at all, apparently."

"It sparkles, like eyes." Rila observed, moving around so the light would strike the shimmering stone at different angles. "The light shining in bounces, almost like it has some hidden internal light…"

Jaran shook his head "Look at the description panel. It doesn't, when put in the dark, it's got no glow, but even with merely starlight, it seems to fluoresce."

Rila nodded "Okay… what's this?"

"It appears to be a variant of the plush stuffed toy." Jaran commented dryly, looking at the object before looking at the descriptor "A species native to Commander T'Soni's homeworld, which had been designated 'Hazard' for obvious reasons i.e. local wildlife by all factions."

"Interesting, this looks like a mouse, an obese mouse… with a really weird tail. Seems this Commander T'Soni was a fan of that thing I saw an advertisement for a couple days ago." Falere stated "So, what can you tell us about what this Commander T'Soni looked like? The name sounds Asari if I'm mot wrong…"

Jaran shook his head "She was most certainly NOT Asari. She looked mostly human, except for some minor differences. For example, the three small spikes on the sides of Cybran ACU heads were added in mimicry to her fringes, to honour her, and her work in saving the Nation repeatedly…"

* * *

A/N: Sorry, can't continue too far, it would be a dead giveaway if I went any further. I prefer keeping the intrigue up.

* * *

_Unit 282-83, Building 280-281, Capital City, Procyon, May 31, 3870_

"You are hereby invited to the graduation ball of the 3870 cadet school graduates, to be held on June 30th." Jaran read the paper mail, which was still used since it was more difficult to hack than an e-mail. His circuits were pulsing gently and more or less randomly since he wasn't really busy or excited right now. "You may bring the twins if you so wish. From: Elite Commander Dostya." He looked up "Well, guys, you interested?"

Rila shook her head "I don't think taking two Ardat-Yakshi to a party is a good idea, we could end up killing someone because of drinking too much and losing control."

"What about you, Falere?" Jaran looked at the younger twin, who was eagerly watching her archived Galactic Mashers video excitedly. "You want to come to the ball with me?" He sounded a tad too hopeful in his own opinion, well, she was attractive, with a great personality and all, but there were fangs attached to the package. He didn't want the sisters to get kicked out of the Coalition's space and get executed by the Council's people just for accidentally killing him… _Wow, Jaran, your priorities really came out right…_

"That didn't sound quite right." Rila muttered under her breath as Falere was still too focused on the video to notice Jaran saying anything.

"Yeah, Rila, I noticed that too…" The man hissed under his breath to the older twin, whose eyes were twinkling with amusement before raising his voice "Falere, important message!" Jaran called, making the younger Asari pause the video and look over, obviously irritated.

"What is it? It's just getting to the best part!" The younger twin asked.

"There's a ball on June the thirtieth, I'm invited and I'm allowed to bring you guys. Rila doesn't want to come, she thinks it's too risky. What about you?"

Falere frowned uneasily "Rila's right, it is pretty dangerous, us two in a party setting, we might drink too much and kill someone, even if the drinking was by accident. We haven't had alcohol in centuries, we wouldn't be able to handle it well…"

Jaran frowned sadly "Oh, well then…" He trialed off.

Falere leaned toward him a little subconsciously, propping her head on her interlaced fingers, her elbows on her knees "What will you be doing, if we don't go?" _Why do I care?_

"Staying here, not much fun going to a ball without anyone you're familiar with, much more fun chatting with you guys, maybe playing a few games…" Jaran shrugged, not noticing the alarmed look Rila's eyes sported, looking between him and Falere in horror at the way her sister had just acted "That sort of thing."

"Huh, well you haven't gone anywhere we haven't for a while, you need to live a little." Falere stated pointedly "I'm going with you, is that going to be enough to get you out of the house and stop this moping over not being on ACU assignments anymore?" Said assignments were mostly recon anyways these days, with no real war on the horizon, well, that and the fact that there were enough Commanders on the line already ready to launch a steamroller-esque blitzkrieg if the Council tried anything stupid with recent tensions. Jaran was merely assigned to help the twins out, since their escape had caused a rise in the tension level, as many in Council Space suspected their disappearance to be Coalition-related, oh, and Jaran also did paperwork and such, but he preferred the "front lines" better.

"Yeah, thanks, Falere…" Jaran trailed off as Rila stood up as if to say something or go somewhere.

Rila pulled her younger twin into her room "Falere, are you nuts? You basically accepted a date invitation!"

Falere frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, which was just as large as her twin's "What's wrong with that? It's not like he's not good-looking enough to be seen in public with, hell, anyone else would prefer putting a bullet in our skulls to going to a social event with us!" She snapped.

"I don't think it's safe, Falere." Rila growled back.

Falere snorted "Jaran will stop me if I lose control and get close to doing anything stupid. I trust him enough for that."

Rila smoothed her crest back in agitation before sighing and shaking her head "Well… I guess, Mirala broke us out so we could live a little, but still, be careful, sis. I can see you're attracted to him after spending so long in his company, and he's attracted to you, that's exactly why you need to be extra careful with him. The chemistry between you two would be great if it wasn't for the deadly poison of our condition."

Falere blushed a little at those words, Jaran was attracted to her? Well he sure was discreet about it, to the point where she'd only just gotten an inkling when he asked her just now "Don't worry, Rila, I won't break him."

* * *

_Unit 282-83, Building 280-281, Capital City, Procyon, June 30, 3870_

"Rila, where's my eyeliner? Are you sure this dress is right for me?" Falere was nervously babbling, wringing her hands as she inspected her appearance in the bathroom mirror.

"Sis, don't worry, just turn on the charm and you'll dazzle everyone." Rila said lazily from where she lounged, her feet propped up on the coffee table "You're just having first date syndrome."

"It's not a date, Rila!" Falere rounded on her older twin sister, huffing in irritation.

The older Ardat-Yakshi smirked "Well to me it seems like one, all the nerves and stuff, and the curious looks you've given him, like he's an interesting thing you're about to dissect…"

Falere shuddered at the image "That's enough information, I don't need that thought in my head."

Rila snorted "What? Afraid you'll face temptation from your dark side tonight? Jaran's not that stupid, and he's most certainly NOT going to get drunk."

"Even though the PS to the ball description he showed me clearly read that 'the vast majority of attending people will most likely get drunk off their asses, beware'?" Falere questioned.

Rila shrugged, then grew serious "Well, I guess you have a point there, still, make sure you don't try anything, sis, we can't afford it."

"Alright, alright, I know that, let's go meet Jaran."

Rila shook her head "No, you're the only one meeting Jaran tonight. Now come on, he's been waiting outside the door for ten minutes already."

* * *

"You look…" Both started at once, but was interrupted by a loud facepalm from Rila.

"If you want to do that sort of shit, do it somewhere else. Please leave, I have some fanfiction to read, bye!" Rila pushed Falere out of their apartment before closing and locking the door.

"Why did I expect that?" Falere said with a smirk, running her eyes over Jaran appreciatively, following his circuits until they disappeared into his hairline or skin. _He's not exactly ugly by any definition of the word… stop, Falere, you don't want to kill him! You don't!_

"She's your twin. Twins always share a unique bond." Jaran shrugged, watching her blue-grey stormy eyes carefully for any sign of a problem with the arrangement for the night, any flicker of doubt. If she was nervous about going to public events, then they wouldn't go to a public event. "Let's get to the bus." They took longer walking to the bus stop on the corner of the building than the bus rides took to get to the CGC, where the ball was to be held in one of the ballrooms. "So, what do you think of this ball?"

There was no need to lie, so… "I'm nervous, nervous I'll do something unforgivable like mate with someone, or even try to. I don't want to be a murderer, but I still have to do this, the best way to take on my predisposition is to grab the bull by the horns." Falere shivered slightly, looking out at the night time Procyon, at the dark forest she knew to be growing below them and the lights of the buildings, mostly behind darkened windows. The occasional lights of another air-bus and the lights of patrolling Geminis and Restorers gave the city an eerie feeling.

Jaran shifted uncomfortably, sure, he'd had an internal debate before deciding to read the letter to the twins, but… "True, but if you feel this is too much pressure, we could always turn back…"

Falere shook her head before squaring her shoulders and puffing out her chest in determination "No, let's do this."

* * *

_CGC Ballrooms, Capital City, Procyon, June 30, 3870_

"Hey Jaran! You finally got yourself a girlfriend! Good for you!" Thalia threw a green and white armoured arm around Jaran's shoulders as she took another shot of her drink, they'd all been invited for being familiars of the Elite Four and being considered responsible to hold the cadets in line… more or less. It seemed to Jaran it was more of a matter of Ivan following Thalia worriedly trying to make sure she didn't sample all the alcohol (and therefore potentially men) available while Dom and Annika were out on the dance floor, stuck in their own little world.

"She's not my girlfriend, Thalia." Jaran answered evenly.

"Oh?" Thalia squinted at Falere, who blushed as her minder's—that was basically what Jaran was— little sister looked up and down her body in what could nearly be called a lewd way "Well if you're not careful someone else is gonna whisk her out from beneath your nose."

"I'm right here…" Falere mumbled.

Thalia seemed to have heard nothing "Anyways, enjoy yourself, Jaran, ooh, look, that bunch of guys look like they'd be nice to practice my flirting skills on, come on, Ivan, let's go!" She didn't notice the obviously upset frown Ivan's face sported as he trudged along behind her like a lost puppy. By the time she looked back at her best friend to ask his opinion, he'd schooled it into a more neutral expression, only a slight frown. "If you want to go have fun on your own, feel free, I'm not expecting you to come along with me to flirt with any guys, you know." She shoved his shoulder lightly, smirking good-humouredly.

Ivan snorted and smirked back, clapping her around a shoulder "Nah, I'll come with you, Jaran and Dom would probably tear my head off if I let you go off with some random guy tonight."

Thalia began moving again "Heh, if they want to be overprotective, they should do it themselves. You don't have to let them spoil your night, Ivan, go have some fun."

The young Brackman shook his head "I am having fun, you're a funny person to be around."

Thalia rolled her eyes without turning back "Yeah, well, that's just how I am, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to practice flirting with those guys, never seen you interested in any girls before. Don't worry, I won't judge."

As soon as they were out of earshot, Ivan still looking like a puppy that had just been kicked and thrown out in the rain with the slight slump in his posture, Jaran's forehead met the bar, once, twice, three times, before he groaned in frustration. "Hell, being a big brother I'm supposed to dislike guys that hang out with my little sister." Sure, the Aeon had a greater tradition of older sisters examining suitors of little brothers, but older brothers being protective of little sisters wasn't frowned on. "But that guy, ugh, he makes me think of a limping, abused little puppy turning up on my doorstep soaked to the bone and shivering in the thunderstorm outside when Thalia acts like he's not…" Jaran gestured vaguely "ya know, Ivan Brackman."

"Are YOU interested in him?" Falere teased, bemused.

Jaran turned his head and gaped for a moment "No, I'm not into guys. Anyways, what I'm saying is that Thalia observes Ivan has never been interested in girls, because he's only ever had eyes for one girl. Hell, he even confided with Dom and me that he felt a bit jealous that Dom had an easier time interacting with Thalia back in cadet school. Ten years after the fact and she still hasn't realised he's been trailing after her hoping she'll notice he's male. I think he's just about to give up too. I mean, I told him about the Aeon tradition of women making the first move, but I never thought he'd take it so damned literally. I think this might be part of why Doc Brackman doesn't want his son to get with Thalia, it's not just that we're related to the dead Evaluator Kael, but she's been treating him like… like she treats Dom, he wants it to change."

"Sounds cute to me." Falere's eyes glinted playfully as she giggled. _Playful? Lethal is more like it, remember, Falere, you're a danger to the lives of those around you, don't let that charm manifest, and you won't kill the nice guy sitting in front of you…_ Her brain prodded itself, and the corners of her mouth sank down unhappily.

"Something wrong?" Jaran asked, lifting his head from the bar.

Falere shook her head "No, just thinking." Jaran knew that to be true, but the next part was a lie "About how stupid people can be when it comes to feelings sometimes. You know how you told me before Aeon woman like being dominant and respected for their dominance? Thalia's getting so much respect from Ivan she doesn't notice he has feelings for her, not like other men, and more than a few women, who'd probably look her over at least a couple times. Not me though, I don't go for relationships."

Jaran frowned _Why do I find that depressing? Great, Jaran, you're falling into the same rut that Ivan's already stuck in… bail out, bail out!_ "This isn't much of a ball without dancing, if you want to go dance, then go ahead, I'll make sure you don't get into any awkward situations."

"I hate dancing." Falere smirked before taking a drink of her juice "This stuff is good… a combination of mildly spicy, sweet, bitter and sour… what is it made from?"

Jaran looked over at the bottle standing next to the drink "Oh, that? That's from a plant native to Earth II, we might not contact them much out of respect for their back-to-nature ways but that doesn't mean we can't use some of their plants for food. It's some evolution of apples or something similar, seem to have diverged about 100,000 years ago evolutionarily."

"Huh, well it's good, maybe I… damn, it feels like my biotics are a bit hyper right now." She was already flaring slightly.

Jaran realized something and groaned "Damn it, right, that sort of fruit, they called it a berry on Earth II despite its size" It was the size of an apple, and the name was an anagram of apple "restores energy levels… in your case it seems to be boosting your energy reserves, just like for human biotics and the native wildlife on Earth II."

"I noticed…" Falere ground out before she abruptly created five Singularities next to one another and slammed five stasis fields on them, one on each, preventing them from doing anything to the stunned onlookers until they dissipated "Ah, there. That feels better now…" She slumped a little on her bar stool, sighing contentedly.

He nodded "Right, ten ability uses, that's the number human biotics get from one dose."

"Maybe I shouldn't drink anything else…" Falere looked around at the wide array of drinks before her.

Jaran nodded "Nothing from Earth II, that's for sure." He motioned toward one bottle that had a picture of something that resembled a peach on it "This thing, for example, is an effective antidote for toxins, all toxins, through some means yet unknown. It works on all species equally, which is rather weird. Still, these fruit extracts are slower acting than, say, medi-gel or other modern technologies, so they are rarely used for anything other than juices and drinks."

Falere frowned "That is weird…" They sat in silence for a few more moments, watching the grads have a good time, these days, the term "ball" included essentially all dances, since only one area of the CGC Ballroom was currently formal enough for the term "Ballroom" to apply. "Tell me about yourself." She started talking suddenly for reasons unknown to herself.

"What's there to tell more of? I was born in an Aeon family, the Seraphim War when I was only a child threw my family off-balance because of what Evaluator Kael did… Then my mother died from the same genetic condition that hit me a few years back. She fought it for years, but it wasn't enough in the end, Aeon medicine wasn't enough to stop it at the stage it was discovered at. Dad died a few years later. Eventually, before I became afflicted, me and my sister passed through cadet school one after the other, and we became friends with Ivan and Dominic, needless to say, Doctor Brackman was a bit suspicious of us, but he got over it." Jaran snorted at that "Though I still think he has a thing against Thalia for how Ivan's been mooning after her, anyway, when I was diagnosed, it was also too late, the only option was these." He pointed at the circuits on the left side of his face, the side closer to Falere at the moment. "Thalia persuaded me to join the Cybran Nation after that. Cross-factional children aren't frowned upon per se, but they aren't that common, and cross-factional adults even rarer. I would be the first Aeon to undergo the Assimilation process. It hurt, a lot, but at least it's cured me completely, I got a life expectancy that's undefined now."

"What do you mean undefined, could you potentially live forever like some say Asari can?" Falere pressed for information.

Jaran shrugged "In theory, we humans could probably live upward of fifteen hundred years, but the Infinite War taught us that theoretical life expectancy and wartime life expectancy are totally different. The statistics of millions of deaths each day catch up, fast."

Falere was quiet for a long time "I can't imagine what it must have been like to live under those circumstances… you never told us anything about the Infinite War, beyond that it lasted twelve hundred years."

Jaran pursed his lips "You've probably seen more than a few movies about it, right?"

She nodded "Rila and I saw a lot of movies about it, and the Seraphim Separatists, but the documentary channels are blocked somehow."

Jaran sighed "That's because I didn't want to expose you too early to just how horrific a past the Coalition had. I was wrong to do that, the past doesn't matter as much as the present and the future, though of course we must learn from our past mistakes. We can watch a documentary together after we get home from this."

Falere nodded to her baby-sitter "Sure, now, let's go mingle with the crowd, maybe I can drop a few hints to your sister about her man."

* * *

"Your sister…" Falere shut her mouth, it wouldn't do to be rude to her minder.

Jaran finished the thought for her, watching her with bemused hazel eyes "…is possible the most obstinate ass ever?"

Falere blinked her grey eyes "I would have used different terms, but yes, that too. I almost want to claw my fringe off with how my hints just flew over her head. It's like she's impervious, and she didn't glance back once at him! The way he'd look so hopeful one moment and then so GLUM the next was almost…"

Jaran turned his face back to the wall and spoke into it in a muffled voice "Horrific to witness?"

Falere's mouth opened and shut several times, her baby-sitter just having plucked the words from it. Then she leant against the wall, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and frowned "You and I, we think more or less alike, huh?"

Jaran's mouth, what she could see, quirked up in a smirk, and the circuits on the left, visible side of his face pulsed once "Agreed." He pulled his forehead away from the wall and turned back around "You know, if you hate your fringe enough to claw it off, it could be arranged." He teased, tracing one of the ridges to its tip, barely touching her smooth skin, quite different in texture to human skin, for it was completely hairless.

Falere shivered unconsciously, apparently, Jaran did not know that touching someone's fringe like that was NOT GOOD for the state of mind of Asari, and that was even more true of Ardat-Yakshi. She noticed, much to her horror, that she was leaning into the contact instead of recoiling, and was just about to tell him to get his hand off her head unless he wanted to try to break her control and have his soul sucked out, when a PA announcement cut them off.

Jaran Kael jumped about a foot in the air. _What the hell was I doing, I know perfectly well that's one of the erogenous zones on Asari! Do I WANT to die? Then again, if it involves her, it might not be so bad after all… Damn it, if that's what it's like to fall under an Ardat-Yakshi's charm, then we must FIGHT IT!_ His brain yelled at itself as the booming voice filled the Ballroom and adjacent rooms.

"THIS IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY!" The room went silent "THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A DANCE, ALL THOSE WHO HAVE NOT GONE YET, GET YOUR ASSES ON THE FLOOR RIGHT NOW!" Though Annika Chambers, Dominic's wife, had to put up a biotic barrier to prevent her obviously somewhat tipsy husband from being pelted by fruit, snacks, and other assorted items, most of the guests took it in good humour and went onto the dance floor, those that hadn't gone yet. As soon as Dom left the podium he ran over to where he'd apparently sighted Jaran and Falere standing there doing nothing. "Guys, go up there and dance, I haven't seen you dance in a LONG time, Jaran, and I know you can!"

Jaran scowled at the younger man before sitting down on the floor abruptly "I hate dancing, you know that, Dominic Maddox."

"He did get his ass on the floor like you asked." Falere commented dryly, her darker side annoyed and her nicer side ecstatic at the interruption of that moment, which could potentially have eventually, over time, escalated to become her first kill… a first kill she didn't want to make.

Apparently, being tipsy increased your strength, because Dominic managed to somehow drag Jaran out to the dance floor, Annika and Falere watching in amusement without interfering. Falere thought it was funny, right up until Jaran protested that he didn't have a partner, resulting in her squeaking in surprise as Dominic yanked her over and pushed her at Jaran, laughing all the way. Jaran blinked at her, the two being roughly equal in eye level "Well, I guess we don't have much choice…" He observed dryly, looking at where Annika, Dominic, Ivan and Thalia were making peace symbols at him.

Falere sighed despondently, this might test her control over her darker side, and not in a good way "Let's just go with it."

* * *

After they were out of sight and hearing range, Ivan leaned toward the other experienced conspirator of the group, Thalia. "How well do you think it's going to work?"

Thalia smirked and spoke without turning her head "I haven't seen Jaran look at anyone like that before, a healthy mix of apprehension, fear, respect, and attraction." Her eyes shifted over to Dominic "Kind of like how you look at Annika all the time, except I don't think they've gotten their spark to burst into flames yet, not like you two."

Annika Chambers nodded with her own evil smirk "Yeah, they needed us to play matchmaker for them, just like some other people we know need it."

Thalia shook her head "Nah, I'm too lazy for more match-making tonight, remember, we still have lots of things to go wild on!" She gestured expansively toward the semi-deserted bar, now that the Ballroom had given way from the original slow music to a jam of bodies like a nightclub, the racks of drinks and juices, most of the latter being Earth II species, sat ripe for the taking.

Dominic and Annika had both facepalmed when Thalia walked off toward the bar, Ivan trialing after her, almost like a baby-sitter to make sure that in her slightly tipsy state she didn't try anything particularly stupid. Then again, baby-sitters do not generally stare longingly at the back of someone's green-haired head.

Jaran Kael was watching carefully from where he was "dancing" with Falere. The fact that he wasn't watching her ass only reinforced Jaran's notion that Ivan Brackman would be a good match for his sister, if only she'd notice how much he was giving way to Aeon tradition (of women starting the major steps) and reciprocate… Something distracted him from that train of thought though, apparently, Falere had suddenly started getting hit by the alcohol she'd consumed earlier and was starting to press closer to him.

Being wrapped up in the ultimate sexual predator gave Jaran Kael an uneasy feeling, the fact that he was on orders to keep an eye on her did not facilitate getting away… and the way she was rubbing up against him now wasn't helping that either. As the night progressed, things would grow even more terrible for the elder Kael sibling, as his ward seemed to have limitless energy (the fact that she sipped more juice may have had something to do with it) and had begun to imitate the other participants' increasingly drunken grinding. The worst part was that he had literally been ORDERED to "take good care of her" by Elite Commander Dostya, who'd dropped by and had a good laugh at his expense. Wait, no, that wasn't the worst part, the worst part was that some part of him enjoyed the feeling of being so close to Falere.

* * *

_Unit 282-83, Building 280-281, Capital City, Procyon, July 1, 3870_

"I had a good time, Jaran." Falere slurred as he guided her back to the apartment the three of them shared. "I learnt a lot about you, and I liked what I learnt." She planted a wet kiss on his cheek and leaned further into him, pressing the large, soft breasts she'd inherited from her parents into his side.

Jaran shivered, he'd just been kissed by the Asari equivalent of a vampire, a drunk one, that wasn't good for his life expectancy… "Come on, Falere, you're drunk" _Like you said you would be… you were right._ "We need to get you to bed."

"Aw, I wanted to do more stuff." She complained despite being moved along into her room.

"It's what, one in the morning?"

"You promised me you'd tell me about the Infinite War and we'd watch a documentary on it!" Falere protested as Jaran helped her take her shoes off.

"We'll do that in the morning… if you're not too hung over."

"Heh, I guess…" She slammed a stasis on Jaran, then started stripping off her dress, discarding it before slumping back on her bed and stripping out of every other item of clothing she had. Then she yanked him over with a pull field and pinned him under her before putting him in stasis again and pulling the sheets up over herself "You stay right there, I want to make sure you don't try to worm your way out of tomorrow's history lesson." She grumbled drunkenly before her head came down on his shoulder with a thud and she started snoring.

"I should probably take pictures…" Rila's voice spoke from the doorway, sounding rather amused. "Or help you out from under her, but most men would die to be in your position, I many cases literally, so I'll leave you down there to suffer." She chuckled evilly before leaving, shutting the door behind her.

Jaran was not about to try waking her up, lest she throw a Warp at his unarmoured body and turn him into meat sauce. He could only hope his natural reaction to her warm, soft, curvy and completely nude body didn't disturb her sleep, since according to Mirala's briefing months ago Ardat-Yakshi were extremely overpowered even by Asari standards, and not only had biotics, but, like the most powerful normal Asari, psionic sensitivity too. If Falere saw his thoughts right now, he suspected shooting himself in the head would be merciful compare to what she would do to him. He felt her frown against him and let out an annoyed groan as his mind filled with images of her turning him into a red puddle of mush, and her froze up in sudden fear, wishing he had his SCU, or better yet, a Galactic Colossus, standing between him and her.

A violent image of said GC being thrown aside before she jumped him entered his mind as she sighed contentedly and began grinding on him. The occasional moans as she basically had a wet dream while sprawled on top of him ensured, even if nothing else of this horrible disaster did, that this would be an excruciatingly long night. The fact that someone's twin sister's muffled laughter could be heard from the living room didn't help one bit. Oh well, humans could run without sleep for days nowadays, it didn't matter… Right up until she started talking in her sleep, when Jaran began to start fearing for his life…

* * *

_Unit 282-83, Building 280-281, Capital City, Procyon, July 1, 3870_

Falere woke up on top of something that was warm, solid, breathed, and had annoyed eyes watching her with pursed lips. She smacked her own lazily "Good morning." He didn't respond, merely closed his eyes again as she moved a little… and found the insides of her legs, which were straddling his hips, sticky. She moved a bit more experimentally before drawing in a deep breath. "WHAT THE FLYING FUCK DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT?" She roared down at him, and he winced at the volume. Looking down between them, she noticed with great relief that he was still dressed while she herself was "EEP!" She squealed, clamouring off him and pulling the sheets with her, noticing there was a damp spot on Jaran's lap where she'd no doubt been rubbing herself and starting to remember what she'd been dreaming about last night.

* * *

A/N: WARNING: SMUTTY FANTASY AHEAD.

* * *

-FLASHBACK-

_Falere's Fantasy, Enough Said_

"Goddess yes, yes, fuck me, plough me hard Jaran…" She got out between moans and groans of pleasure as he plunged into her over and over from behind, taking every gram of pleasure she had to give and giving it right back with interest. He was so damned big, so hard, so GOOD at what he was doing, _or rather who he's doing_… She smiled to herself at the thought as she gripped the bed sheets firmly, her chest pressed into his hands, whish were flat against the bed, since she'd lost the strength in her arms to hold herself up anymore. He was hitting every one of her sensitive spots, spots she didn't even know existed, as he slammed into her again and again, marking her as his and being marked in the process.

"You fit me like a glove, Falere, a warm, beautiful glove." He whispered huskily into her ear (located at the side of the Asari head just under the fringe, the ridges near it serve as the external ear) "I could spend eternity here, making love to you, and not get tired, how do you like the sound of that?"

"I like the idea of fucking you forever…" He pinched her nipples and suckled one of her fringe ends into his mouth as a reward for that "ugh, pinch them again!" She growled.

She felt him smile around her fringe tip before his mouth left the sensitive flesh with a soft pop "As you like it." He breathed into the back of her head before pinching and tugging her nipples, speeding his pace up a little, never having slowed one bit from screwing her brains out.

"Jaran, you're gonna make me cum!" She groaned, feeling him move even faster, sheathing himself completely in her before pulling out and slamming straight back in to the hilt with every thrust, taking the entire length of her love canal and stimulating it with every glorious millimetre of his cock as she shuddered, trying to hold in her climax.

"Cum with me, Falere, milk me, mark me as yours." He was appealing to her Ardat-Yakshi desire of dominance, seemingly knowing exactly what to say, perhaps it was because the Aeon Illuminate, his birth faction, was matriarchal that he knew to be submissive while being deliciously dominant at the same time? That thought was erased as her entire being exploded in pleasure, reaching her climax and feeling her insides contract around him, squeezing, coaxing his semen into her, and oh did he deliver…

They only rested for a brief moment, him moving slowly to draw out her climax, before they changed positions, with her on top this time, and went at it again.

-END FLASHBACK-

* * *

_Unit 282-83, Building 280-281, Capital City, Procyon, July 1, 3870_

"Finished strolling down memory lane yet? Can you get dressed? Or at least cover yourself? I don't want to be rude you know…" Jaran had one hand over his eyes as he spoke.

Falere was red as a tomato and utterly embarrassed that she'd had a wet dream while pinning the subject of said wet dream to her bed. She was trembling slightly in shame, partly at the fact that she was wet again from the memory of the fantasy, and partly due to her sheer embarrassment "I'm covered, I'm sorry…"

Jaran sighed as he sat up "Don't worry, it's not that bad…" He looked down toward the wet spot on his shirt, murmuring "Might have to wash this off, and try to wipe that memory though…" He shivered a little.

Falere looked up from where she'd been hiding her blush in her sheets, wrapped protectively around her "Am I that repulsive?"

Jaran shook his head vigorously "NO! Rila said that most men would die to have been in my position, literally, she was right, it would have been a good night for most guys, unfortunately, I didn't get any sleep with how you were, uh, enjoying your own imagination, right on top of me." It had been a wonder that he didn't have to change his pants, thankfully, he managed to discover a Cybran program to alleviate arousal before he embarrassed himself. "Uh, I'm not saying I enjoyed it, because most of the night I feared for my life, scared you'd blast me in my sleep or something…"

"Sorry I did that, Jaran…" She looked down guiltily "Can we forget this ever happened? Maybe go watch that documentary you promised?" She spoke to the sheets.

"Kinda hard to forget you on top of me like that," Jaran smirked "maybe the next time it happens, it can be under better circumstances."

_Great, I'm attracted to him, and he's offering to be my mattress again? I don't want him to die!_ "Jaran, I don't want to kill you, don't even think about something like that, you got me? I like you too, but it's too dangerous for you to be near me like that" _Sorry for making you look so crestfallen…_

Jaran frowned, he needed to be honest with himself, he'd found himself attracted to her too, and he knew the risks, but she was just so tempting, so kind, warm and everything he looked for in a woman… Besides, if nature had taken its course he would be dying already, why not live his second chance at life to the fullest? "Falere, I know you, I've known you and talked to you for hours each day about, well, everything, for the past three and a half months. You wouldn't hurt me, you'd never hurt me, and you know it."

She shook her head "It's not a matter of would, Jaran, I could lose control, get drunk or something one night and… bam, you'd be gone, dead, extinguished, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I killed someone I genuinely cared about."

He snorted "We all die someday, Falere, that's why we should live life to the fullest. A relationship would be a good experience for both of us, I would think."

"If I got in a relationship with you…" She frowned at him "You do realize that I'd want to eventually have a sex life, right? If I melded with you, you'd die, pretty much immediately… I don't know how Mirala managed to cope with having killed her first lover but I doubt I could take it… I don't want you to die, Jaran, and I don't want to die either…"

He frowned deeply "What do you mean, you dying?"

Falere sniffled "I'd probably kill myself if I killed someone by melding."

"Asari can choose not to use melding, right?" Jaran asked.

"Well, yes…" She started slowly.

"From the way you were talking in your sleep, you didn't meld with the dream version of me, but you still enjoyed it." Jaran was careful not to look down at the wet spot on his lap that said how much she enjoyed it. She had wet it, what? Five times over the course of the night? It was a good thing he'd helped her to the bathroom in between (though being pinned on the bed again afterward wasn't so great), or she'd likely have put a lot more than just cum on him, and he would likely have had an accident too.

Falere flushed purple again "Well, uh, yes, I did, immensely."

"Well there we go, future relationship problem solved. Now, let's get up and get ready for the day, there's a history documentary to watch, good thing today's a statutory holiday in the Cybran Nation, huh?"

Falere nodded, frowning "Yeah." There was a rumbling from outside the narrow window "Hey, it's raining! A thunderstorm!"

Jaran got up from the bed "It's like the universe approves of our choice, we both love the rain… let's watch the documentary on the balcony, shall we?"

"Sure…" They cleaned themselves up, ate breakfast and went outside to the balcony, all the while talking about various things. "The safety systems are really nice." Falere commented as she tossed a ball over the edge of the balcony and the artificial gravity field propelled it back at her. "Almost makes me want to try jumping off…" She felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist securely and laughed "I'm just joking, Jaran, no need to be so terrified… though I think your protectiveness is kind of cute."

"I denied my more-than-professional feelings toward you for over two months already, now that I found you feel the same, don't ever expect me to let you go do something stupid like that." He whispered in her ear, and she shivered a little at the husky tone he used.

"Slow down a little, Jaran, I like your protectiveness but that tone might make me move faster than I'm ready for." She whispered as they settled on the couch they'd moved outside using her biotics.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you."

Falere giggled "You're really cute sometimes, Jaran." She leaned her head on his shoulder as they began watching the documentaries.

* * *

A/N: Heh, here's why I marked it Romance, and why I've changed the rating.


	5. Opportunities, SmashDowns and Playing D

A/N: I did not abandon this fic. Besides, I need to write the shoot-down of Ivan Brackman the one time Jaran managed to goad him into making a move. This is more or less a support fic to explain some of the off-screen pairings and action in the main fics, just stating that so that you understand the slow updating here.

* * *

Chapter 5: Opportunities, Smash-Downs and Playing Dirty

_Unit 282-83, Building 280-281, Capital City, Procyon, February 7, 3871_

"Are you sure about this, Falere?" Rila asked her sister with a deep frown on her face.

"Well… no, not really, I mean, I think I can hold myself just fine, and we've been together for over seven months now…" Falere scratched her fringe nervously, biting her bottom lip in nervousness.

"Falere, I know you're planning to give your virginity to Jaran on Valentines Day, I'm okay with that, I know you have enough control to hold back." Rila said soothingly "But I mean the timing."

Falere tilted her head in confusion at her older twin sister "What's wrong with the timing?"

"Well, it's a bit… stereotypical. I mean, you could be a lot more creative, such as a random time next month or something after this February craze is over… or maybe Jaran's birthday or ours." Rila suggested.

"Well I guess that makes sense, I do want our first time to be special…"

"Don't worry sis, with the power level amp-up I'm detecting from you, it'll be special no matter what, you've fallen in love, sis, just be careful, don't kill him!"

"I'm not entirely stupid, you know…"

"Right… maybe we should get ready to go to work soon?"

* * *

_Unit 282-83, Building 280-281, Capital City, Procyon, February 18, 3871_

"Girls, I have news!" Jaran, who's been cohabitating with them for a long time, announced after they'd all come back from work.

"I'm guessing we're talking about this new war on the horizon?" Rila wasn't really asking.

Jaran looked rather depressed "Yeah… I've been called back into the active duty line, fleet command post, gotta be at the CGC within an hour… So yeah, I won't be back for quite a while, you girls are completely comfortable with life on Procyon, yes?"

"Sometimes I forget I have a fringe, but it's not as bad as some of the more absurd hairstyles I've seen out there, I'll be fine." Rila replied. "I'll give you some time alone with Falere though."

The other Ardat-Yakshi present had been silent, shoulders slumped in disappointment, biting her lip in annoyance at herself. She stayed silent as her boyfriend of seven months knelt down in front of her "I'm sorry baby, but…" Jaran shook his head sadly "I've got to go out there and fight to keep the Coalition, keep you, safe. I wish it didn't have to be like this, but Doctor Brackman instructed that you not be on a Coalition warship just in case we run into Council ships and they see you. I suspect there are other reasons, but he wants you to stay here."

"He's probably worried about your survival." Falere remarked dryly, almost bitterly.

"Well, maybe… I'm Aeon-born, so my firewalls probably aren't as strong as typical Cybran ones, so that makes sense…" Jaran said slowly, frowning.

"I get the message, Jaran, you don't need to worry about us, except for one thing… if you get your ass killed I will personally go yank you back from the afterlife, you got me?"

Jaran smirked at the double meaning as he wrapped her up in his arms "Yeah, I got you."

Falere nodded against the side of her boyfriend's head "Yes." She said simply, before adding "Come back safe, Jaran, I'll see you when this whole mess is over."

* * *

_Falere's Room, Unit 282-83, Building 280-281, Capital City, Procyon, February 18, 3871_

As soon as Jaran left via air-bus, Falere basically crumpled, sullenly going back to her room before falling face-first onto her bed, sighing. Rila followed in a moment later, frowning worriedly "Falere, are you alright?" She asked her younger twin.

Falere rolled herself over "No, not really. I'm wondering how long this war will take, probably more than a year, right?"

"That sounds reasonable, though I'm thinking probably more than a year will be needed." Rila said.

Falere sighed dejectedly "And you said that I could wait until after the February 'love month' craze was over…"

Rila winced at her mistake "Right, about that…"

Falere held up a hand "Don't worry, sister, I'm not blaming you, it's just that I won't get the chance for the next year, maybe more, while he's out on campaign… I'll be able to contact him through virtual conferences, but it won't be the same… I wanted my first time with him to be special, you know?"

Rila hung her head, amazed at herself for having blundered so badly about giving her sister advice "I know, I know…"

Falere shook her head and smiled "The thing is, I need to thank you, I was nervous about it for quite a while, now that he's gone, I'm not nervous anymore… though if he gets killed, I'm probably not going to talk to you for several months."

"I know, he's the first one you've loved, I could see it in your eyes, Falere, you don't want to lose him. Don't worry, with Jaran's skills he'll survive where few others can."

Falere nodded, still smiling. "Yes, and now I don't need to worry about intimacy until he comes back."

Rila frowned "What's with the smile? If you're that relieved, Jaran would eventually notice and stop you before you could take a step you'd regret, if you weren't ready for it, if you were so nervous, Jaran wouldn't let you go ahead with your plan, whatever it was."

"It's funny how you're nervous about something in hindsight. I wasn't this nervous before, but now when I think back on it I almost want to laugh at how pathetically worried I was."

"Worried about what? He clearly adores you, and even with all his effort he can't keep his eyes only on your head, and believe me he does not glance at my body the way he looks at yours occasionally. He's mentally and physically attracted to you, Falere, and emotionally speaking he loves you as much as you love him. You want to know why I'm saying he's physically attracted to YOU? I have the exact same body, but when he looks at me, and that's not that often, his eyes stay on my face, no stray glances or anything, well, other than say scanning the room but that's beside the point. Still, Falere, that man will never get over you from what I see, even if you decide to dump him, which I might add is very stupid, he's nice, supportive, easy on the eyes, head over heels for you, and of course is financially stable. If you've looked in the mirror lately, you'll know that you have nothing to worry about, he'll be completely bowled over, and you have enough control and he enough clarity to slap you out of it if it comes down to it."

"…That was a long rant. Thanks, Rila, I suppose I'll go do something else now."

The fact that she discovered Cybrans, all Cybrans, to be Ardat-Yakshi proof ten minutes later did not help the roar of outrage that ran through the apartment. Needless to say, Falere was rather angry at herself for not noticing the report earlier and missing her first real opportunity for a sexual encounter. The fact that it was with someone she'd fallen in love with didn't help the feeling of opportunities missed.

* * *

_Central Gate Complex, Capital City, Procyon, December 23, 3871_

Thalia, Jaran and Dominic were sitting at the bar with Rila and Falere, who were allowed to access the more public areas of the CGC without escort. Thalia slammed her tankard down on the bar-top before starting in on their latest topic of conversation "Well, it's two days till the Christmas Ball, and unfortunately for me I still haven't found anyone to go with. Heh, not surprising, since most people turn me down as soon as they recognize me, people still hate the Kael family after all these years, right bros?" She slapped Ivan and Dominic heartily on the back, were they not almost used to her heavy-handed slaps they might have choked and sprayed their drinks, but they didn't. "Still, that leaves the dilemma of who I should go with for a date." She looked at the glass that had replaced the tankard forlornly.

"You know, I'm always available." Ivan said quietly. Thalia raised a brown eyebrow (her hair colour was in reality brown like Jaran's, but she dyed it green sometimes), still looking at the glass.

Dominic Maddox whipped his head around so hard it almost cricked, and that was difficult for a post-Quantum Age human. His jaw dropped at the hopeful look on Ivan's face, the young Brackman was FINALLY making a move? Maybe he'd drunk a bit too much, he probably wouldn't remember this in the morning, if he had, then it might have been an alcohol-induced fantasy. Still, if he remembered in the morning, this would be cause for a minor celebration…

"Ivan?" Thalia asked sceptically, as if not believing she'd heard right. She had never picked up any signs of interest from her best friend, and besides, he wasn't very interesting to her. An unnoticed part of her would have reminded her of how she'd once upon a time always found him cute if it hadn't been brutally suppressed by something else inside her mind that had firmly secured Ivan Brackman in the "not date material" section. "What did you just say?" She finally looked up from her glass, turning her head to look at the Cybran with one eyebrow raised questioningly.

"I said I'm always available to go with you." Ivan stated calmly, staring intently into her green eyes. A momentary thought of why he'd be interested in her, someone who was nearly the stereotypical Aeon—other than the tan—flashed through her mind before all record of its existence was erased.

Thalia blinked owlishly several times. She could almost have sworn she'd had a fleeting impression of jumping up and down shouting to herself "Yes, YES!", but then that impression along with the thought that it had ever existed were ruthlessly wiped from her mind (and the memory of the erasure eased as well). Her mind was now blissfully unaware of what had been happening inside it "Ivan… Ivan…" She chuckled mirthlessly "Sorry, but I wasn't, uh, really considering you as an option. Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll have better luck hunting around for someone to dance with at the Ball."

Dominic Maddox's head hit the table with a dull thud as the mostly-armoured Commander passed out onto the bar-top in sheer shock at the shoot-down, it was delivered in a manner rather uncharacteristic of the kind-hearted Aeon ACU pilot he knew. He wouldn't remember it in the morning, and neither of the other two would tell him about it. Thalia glanced over, checked his health with her scanner, then rolled her eyes and turned back to Ivan, who gulped audibly before replying "Well, alright, if that's your choice."

The moment of self-protest at those words and the fact that it had ever existed flashed through and was erased from Thalia Kael's mind within an instant, before she replied "Thanks for the respect, Ivan, it's not that you're not a decent guy, but you just…" She frowned as she contemplated whether or not to tell him the opinion she of him in her mind had before deciding that honesty was best "…don't seem to be date material to me, and definitely not boyfriend material." She knew it must have stung, but something in her didn't let her lie to him.

Ivan nodded robotically and smiled just as mechanically, though something in Thalia didn't let her see it and allowed her to resume staring at the glass, only watching his reflection, despite the condensation getting in the way, she could still see him nodding in understanding. "Understood, Thalia, good luck, you, Dom and Annika have fun at the Ball."

She glanced over in surprise "You're not coming?"

Ivan shrugged "Nah, I need to think a little, reconsider my priorities…"

Thalia finally decided she'd had enough of staring at her glass and drained it before putting it down again and nodding "If that's your choice."

* * *

_Dominic Maddox's Suite, Capital City, Procyon, December 23, 3871_

"She didn't even let me confess anything before she shot me down." Ivan said blankly to Annika, who'd just helped him get Dominic in bed, apparently his friend hadn't fainted from drink but from shock. Not surprising, as he himself was rather surprised by how quickly and casually he'd been shot down. Thalia was usually a reasonable, nice woman, treating people with respect and at least being polite in declining. What had changed? Maybe he'd triggered it? It didn't make sense…

"Well maybe she didn't want to hear you say it, maybe she had feelings too and was nervous about it?" Annika Chambers proposed an answer.

Ivan shook his head, he'd known Thalia Kael for over ten years now, over a third of their lives, and their relationship had stabilized at Best Friends about a year in. "No, it didn't seem like that, I think she just took the brutal honesty route." That was when she'd pushed her brother into getting Cybran implants and took preventative therapy in case she developed the genetic condition her mother had died with. She told Dom and himself those measures she took only consisted of a small monitoring implant, but she also told them that Doctor Brackman, having done a LOT of research, had determined that the genetic aspect was only one part of how the condition spread. If a parent had it genetically and was manifesting symptoms, there was a chance that children, even the ones without the gene, could get it by chemical influence of their development environment, though if the parent with symptoms did not have the gene (being a child of someone who did have the gene and were afflicted), there wouldn't be any problems. Needless to say, Dominic and Ivan had both supported her getting the health monitoring implant.

Annika frowned, tucking some of her red hair away "That's… disturbing, the Thalia I know wouldn't say it like that. I mean, not date material and DEFINITELY not boyfriend material? That's harsh to say the least. Still, at least it was a quick shoot-down, not a drawn-out affair."

Ivan shrugged "I guess it was merciful in that respect. Still, I'm giving up on the whole thing, ten years is long enough to waste over someone who isn't ever going to care for you back. It's time for me to go get a life other than following Thalia around like a lost puppy."

Dominic Maddox indeed did not remember the incident in the morning, so shocked he was by the blunt shoot-down that his brain auto-deleted the traumatizing memory.

* * *

_Doctor Brackman's Room, Capital City, Procyon, December 23, 3871_

"Still, I'm giving up on the whole thing, ten years is long enough to waste over someone who isn't ever going to care for you back. It's time for me to go get a life…" Doctor Gustav Brackman smirked (or his hologram did) as he replayed that recording one more time in his mind. His plan was working. After all, he'd been against his son going outside the Cybran Nation for a mate from the very beginning, and so when everyone had begun to bet on this highly probable couple he'd naturally bet against it. He hadn't been betting on statistical probability (otherwise he'd have bet for) but for the outcome he wanted.

If there was one thing he'd learnt from his original escape from the Earth Empire and keeping the Cybran Nation alive until a certain Legendary Commander came along, Gustav Brackman knew altogether too well just how to play dirty. When Thalia Kael brought (read: dragged, kicking and screaming) her brother to the Cybran Nation to get treatment and implants to dispose of his condition, which had advanced too far to be cured by other means, it had been the perfect opportunity. To be fair, he hadn't completely been lying when he told her that the chemical environment of fetal development also played a role in determining whether the child would get the condition or not…

He'd just exaggerated the statistical probability, that's all, and if the dumb girl had wanted to get a check-up along with a small neural lace interface to help with living in the Cybran Nation, then that was her own problem. Of course, the little program he'd inserted, the ghost in the machine, was not quite appropriate for the task of monitoring for signs of disease, but the girl would, not being quite Cybran enough to be that paranoid, not check. Her brother, Jaran Kael, probably wouldn't detect anything weird and from what Brackman could see was sort of relieved that his sister wasn't interested in anything serious with anyone at her age. At least, things had begun that way, though nowadays even Jaran was starting to feel sorry for Ivan. That meant the smash-down could not have come at a better time, any longer and people would start confronting the stupid girl for it and possible start doubting her deviation form her normal behaviour with regards to the topic.

Everything was falling into place just fine, now, about those recent rumours of the ICs trying to create super-soldiers… Heh, what jokes, they couldn't stand up to Zerg, Flood, or pretty much any major threat without the sheer power of technology behind them. Hell, even the Citadel Armies and Fleets were clearing up their acts and upgrading to be a good match, it would be useful when the Reapers got here.

* * *

_CGC Ballrooms, Capital City, Procyon, December 25, 3871_

"You're acting like a lost puppy again." Annika Chambers deadpanned to Ivan Brackman.

The young Cybran sighed "I know, it's a hard habit to break, following her around at social events like this."

"I sense you're not entirely willing to break the habit." Annika stated plainly.

Ivan flinched at that "Well, maybe…"

Annika smirked "Don't change, brother, don't ever change… there is ALWAYS hope!"

"I hope you convinced yourself of that, ten years…from what I hear people are beginning to tire of waiting for the bets they made on us. That says something."

Annika sighed as she watched her husband come back to their table with drinks "I wish I could convince myself."

* * *

_Doctor Brackman's Room, Capital City, Procyon, December 25, 3871_

This was an unexpected development; apparently Ivan wasn't quite over her yet. That was not a good sign. Doctor Brackman might play dirty, but he wasn't going to try assassinations or anything, those caused more trouble than they were worth. He knew, however, that given a few more shoot-downs Ivan's logical Cybran side would prevail and he'd see that the Aeon wasn't worth the time and effort that would need to be invested. Then, logically, Ivan would give up, move on, and everyone would be happy…

Then again, if Ivan ended up going for a UEF girl, then maybe Thalia Kael wasn't so bad after all. Still, in terms of contact ratios, Ivan spent more time chatting with Cybrans than the other factions, so there was a good statistical probability that he'd move back into his own faction in terms of targeting. Now, it was time to contemplate other things than his son's love life or utter lack thereof.

* * *

A/N: Prediction: Apocalyptic Father-Son Showdown Unavoidable. Dostya will do a lot of yelling too, as will everyone else involved in the bet. Then they'll compliment him on how well he played dirty.

REVIEW!


	6. Ratings, Other Ratings, and… Lunch?

A/N: Sorry, but this story is mainly just a side piece to the main string, includes explanations and such to some main string events, but this chapter, well, this chapter _was_ exclusively a Codex Entry… until I found it too short at a mere 1700 words.

* * *

Chapter 6: Ratings, Other Ratings, and… Lunch?

COALITION CODEX ENTRY: MARINE/ACU PILOT RATING SYSTEM

Most people who have not read this will not understand the rating systems for Marines and ACU Pilots. Those who have, however, will understand what it means to be an N-something or C-something in the Coalition of Species.

Infantry are ranked according to the N system, N0 through N7. N0 is "Combat-Incapable", a classification reserved for those under the age of ten, nine if Cybran, or anyone under one point three meters tall or less than forty kilograms in mass if determining other races. N1 is "Non-Combatant Civilian", a classification for those who have received no official training to handle weapons or armour. These are the two non-fighting ranks of Infantry and are very rare in Coalition space.

N2 is "Trained Civilian" which means anyone who has been taught to use a weapon and Coalition Civilian Armour. This encompasses effectively the entire Coalition civilian population as of 3871 and is colloquially termed "Reservists". N2s are the reason why businesses typically operate on a three-shift, seven-crew cycle, as one crew is off each week on reservist training in all major factions, this means two crews will handle each shift, with shifts typically rotating, with the day shift weeks (2 weeks in each shift) for crews about to go to or just coming back from training. This system was hammered out between research facilities, the main employers, and other lesser employers and the Cybran Military shortly after the Infinite War began and has proved very efficient even when adopted by the other Major Factions. N2s do not get paid nor have leave, but they are allowed to not show up if it can be ascertained that you are actually absent for medical reasons. Punishment for going AWOL from training involves quite a heavy fine, don't try it.

N3s are "Reservist Marines", the noncoms and officers of civilian troops in times of need, these people have harsher training, spend weekends in training facilities, and are permitted to authorize use of infantry heavy weapons against targets without having to file too much paperwork afterwards. They are also actually paid for some of their time and have such a thing as "leave". If there's ever not enough Marines, which is hideously unlikely (almost as unlikely as not enough ACU Pilots) these guys are going up into the front lines…

N4s are your typical Marines with typical Marine selections of equipment, customizations, etc. It's more or less a full-time job in that you are always going to be on-call, but the pay is adequate to support yourself or a family on. Unlike higher ranks you will not be shipped around too much so most N4s also have part-time jobs on the side, mostly in research, which is the largest employer in all Major Factions.

N5s are the officers among Marines, you can only reach this if you've reached at least a C4 rank on ACU training. However it is actually a more full-time position than N4s and are typically the only job someone will have other than the design and concept work everybody in the military is into anyways. N5s are also unfortunately the most likely to be stuck with desk jobs. N5s may call for direct fire support from ACU pilots, but cannot request indirect fire i.e. T2/T3 Artillery Installation or Missile Launcher strikes, or anything equivalent to or heavier than Battleship fire, without filing vast mountains of paperwork and explaining to superiors why they felt it necessary.

N6s are elite soldiers, with at least C5 ranking in ACU piloting, and are not exactly common, though unlike N7s they are NOT specialized into specific groups, mostly being well-rounded types. They are also unlike N5s in that they will not often be stuck with desk jobs, but they do have a higher tendency to be assigned to strategically valuable but often incredibly boring locations such as field hospitals as guards, that is, when they're not on the front lines commanding soldiers in ACU-inaccessible urban warfare. They're permitted to directly contact ACU pilots for indirect fire help in the field without too much paperwork. However, they are still not permitted to utilize Strategic-level firepower such as T3/T4 Artillery Installations, Tactical and Strategic Missile Launchers, or Strategic Bombers, at least, not without being swamped by paperwork post-mission.

N7s are more or less the Spectres of the Coalition; they are specialized into classes, have permission to call for fire support of any type (though strategic nukes, especially Yolona Oss strikes, still need a few pages of paperwork) and are the toughest of the tough. N7s tend to be certified to C5 or C6 ranking in ACU Warfare, though few have the power that C7 grants them. No matter how high you want to go, this is it in the Marine Hierarchy, unlike C7 Commanders, you do NOT have the power to speak for your faction or initiate hostilities against another, neutral faction.

COMMANDERS:

C0 through C7 are the Commander rankings existing in the Coalition of Species.

C0s are untrained, in other words, no certification whatsoever. However, it is worth noting that even the most untrained citizen will typically have played enough ACU simulation video games to be able to fight back another non-Coalition faction's ground forces should he or she be given an ACU and be told to do it. C1, C2 and C3 are trainee ranks, C1 indicating proficiency with Tier 1 and 2 units, C2 meaning licensing up to Experimentals but not strategic weaponry, and C3 indicating that the pilot has learnt all that could be taught within a reasonable timeframe about how to pilot an ACU and how things work, including Strategic Warfare.

C3s are the first ranks actually deployed to the battlefield, in SCUs, to support a more experienced ACU pilot as he or she wages war. These pilots are SOMETIME shoved straight to ACUs, but this is uncommon and only done for prodigies, such as Hannah Shepard of the Cybran Nation. C3s are also the rank most likely to be stuck behind a desk, and with the least benefits for their labour.

C4s will not be stuck behind a desk pushing papers, however their responsibilities, often being in trainer positions, fighting battles, and so on often mean they have their own regular paperwork anyhow. C4s are typically last to retreat if one is called, hence their ranking is likened to the ancient explosive, a risky position… C4s cannot even deploy, let alone use, strategic missile launchers without paperwork afterward, this is their largest restriction.

C5s are full-on pilots, they are permitted to deploy strategic weapons when necessary with only a few pages of paperwork afterward (none if in emergency situations where pilots do not have time to file paperwork). C5s have a tendency to be deployed in smaller squads than C4s, sometimes even alone if complete stealth and discretion are required for an operation. If attacked by a formerly neutral party or on a First Contact scenario C5s are expected to shoot to disable, if possible, and are permitted to use conventional weapons, strategic missiles are not permitted without having to explain to several superiors. However, it is worth noting that "X number of civilians would have died otherwise" typically will get you past the superiors if the situation is plausible and not you just adding insult to injury while pounding a hostile raiding group into the dirt.

C6s are typically put in positions of command over other pilots, and are without exception seasoned veterans that have performed very well in previous battles. Usually these include simulator matches, but only matches against C6 or C7 ranking pilots, and are only recorded up to their C5 grade. Most ACU pilots stop here in their climbing of the ranks. C6s are permitted to defend themselves by any and all means if attacked by a neutral or first contact party, including deployment of strategic missiles. However, they are not permitted to start wars or anything like that.

C7 Pilots are the highest ranking, most powerful, and most gifted commanders, there are only two from each Major Faction: Presidents Hall and Ratheen, Supreme Commanders (of their respective factions) Steven Hackett and Seth-Thauum, Elite Commander Dostya, Division Commander Hannah Shepard, Avatar of War Rhiza, and Grand Crusader Ariel Williams. C7 Commanders are able to speak for their faction and when given agreement from the other leaders for the entire Coalition of Species. Having the power to declare wars if cleared by the leaders, they are also licensed to go on the offensive in a Hostile First Contact scenario, though they may choose to forgo this option in favour of waiting for reinforcements so a clear victory can seal the deal for peace.

Unfortunately, all eight of these C7 ranking commanders have expressed that after the fiasco on Shanxi in the Turian War, any hostile intrusion would be immediately responded to by lethal and crushing force. Grand Crusader Williams in particular expressed sentiments that "The next time someone steps onto a Coalition world with hostile intent during a First Contact scenario…" She was reported to then have made violent motions in the air, muttering "I should have nuked the Turians' fleet as soon as they appeared instead of trying to wait for space superiority before making the ground troops surrender, it would have been better if I'd toasted their LZs at the same time as their fleet with massed nukes." This is understandable, since most Aeon commanders who have been through the Infinite War do not like to massacre enemies on sight for no good reason, however critics have pointed out that the Grand Crusader took too long about it and force the Turians into using an asteroid for bombardment…

Williams had responded to these accusations with "What was I supposed to do? Abandon the cities? There wasn't enough time to get everyone out, that was for certain, so I had to hold them there and hope the damned storm cleared up soon. The Turians overreacted… and then got squashed like bugs because of their overzealous actions going over even the Aeon threshold of tolerance."

END CODEX ENTRY

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE REFER TO "ARIEL WILLIAMS", "AVATAR OF WAR RHIZA", "JOHN SHEPARD", etc.

* * *

_Procyon, February 17, 3872_

"Dad!" Rila's eyebrow patches (all Asari had darkened patches of skin left over from their ancestry) rose in pleasant surprise as she opened the door, of course, it was after looking through the eyehole thingy. "Come on in."

Benezia T'Soni grinned at her second oldest daughter before stopping abruptly, halfway into the apartment "What is that… heh, seems your sister's man is finally back off combat duty, huh?" A broad, knowing smirk spread across her now quite recovered features. Asari did NOT age physically, even though she came out of her assimilation into the Cybran Network looking somewhat gaunt and "old" she had recovered her original looks after the events, so now she was looking quite similar to her daughters, who were all over a thousand years younger.

"Yeah, Falere seems to have a problem with the idea of using the sound dampening systems." Rila stated, realising that her father's smirk had something to do with the pillow currently wrapped over the top of her head, trying to block out the noises from the en-suite of her twin's bedroom. The quiet hiss of water spraying around was being interrupted by rather rhythmic… noises, which sounded suspiciously like skin slapping against skin, with a few words and a lot more noises of pleasure. Sure, the walls dampened it slightly, but the usually relatively quiet and bookish Falere was apparently… rather vocal at times.

"I think she's just happy that he's resistant enough that she didn't have him for lunch." Benezia stated, still grinning nearly stupidly at her older twin daughter as Rila winced at the sound of a yelp of pleasure followed by a voice identical to hers exclaiming "Do that again Jaran!"

"I think she's becoming a sex addict of sorts… like most Ardat-Yakshi tend to be."

"You mean out of the four that you know the two that have stable relationships are rather addicted to their partners whenever there's time, right?" Benezia deadpanned as they sat down on the sofa, Rila looking at the pillow in her hands forlornly as if she wanted to wrap it over her ear holes and external ear ridges again.

"Well they've been doing it on every surface after their first time… which they forced me to monitor so that I could pry Falere off and cut the link if it looked like something was horribly wrong. I think Falere's just showing off now, basically saying that she has lunch and I don't." Rila held up a hand to ward off her father's frown "Yeah Dad I just referred to my sister's boyfriend as 'lunch', I have a feeling that her subconscious may see him the same way, not just as a fuck buddy or a lover if you want to use the normal people's term."

Benezia was back to smirking again "Rila, do I detect jealousy of some sort there?"

Rila shrugged "Maybe, she seemed like she was walking on a cloud these past couple days, happy and stuff… but I'm not worried, it seems we sisters are getting hitched by age, which would mean that my turn should come along sometime in the next few years, next youngest after all…" She rolled her eyes at herself "Still think she's doing this on purpose, like holding a delicious dish under my nose and daring me to twitch, Falere might be quiet but she's as much of a demon as the rest of us…" Benezia winced and Rila's face hardened, ignoring the long moan that came from the shower that her sister was no doubt being fucked in. "Don't you dare blame yourself Dad, you can't help who you love and you're not supposed to. Besides, it's not the fact that we're Purebloods, Liara is NOT, her grandfather was Krogan for Goddess's sake, it's that the most powerful Asari mating have the highest chance of producing those like us, that's why our species didn't grow all-powerful or something like that from natural selection in the generations since the Founder, and yeah I was as shocked as you were when I got that message about the Founder's true identity. Who would think that my little half-sister who I've only seen a few times would have once upon many lifetimes been so remarkable?"

Rila and Benezia fell silent for a moment before Rila was reminded of just why she was rambling. Falere and Jaran's en-suite was separated from the living room by exactly one wall, and it wasn't the massive, weight-supporting or utility walls typical of entrances to homes and the outer walls (with small hallways leading to the balconies). The result was that both Asari heard the sound of the couple on the other side. Falere was saying something about how tongue work wasn't quite as good as hard labour or something along those lines. Benezia finally burst into laughter "Well maybe you're right, your sister is showing off, we Asari are naturally more sensual than humans but I think our instinct of displaying what belongs to us is taking hold of her right now… how goes work?"

"It's alright, still involved in weaponry research, such as a way to increase the mass of Gauss LMG rounds and penetration while still ensuring low area damage. It's the closest thing to Council tech other than research in Element Zero." The GLMGs were the closest thing the Coalition had to council small-arms in that they fired relatively small, high-velocity penetrators that didn't tear the entire impact area apart, instead doing more linear splash. Shooting someone and then having them explode, their bones serving as fragmentation devices, was saved for Phasic, Plasma and to an extent Sonic Pulse weapons, while lasers typically settled somewhere in between. "Work's pretty laid-back, it just demands that we try everything we can think of, so these days those two have plenty of time to spend scarring me for life." Rila's lips curled up in a smirk "That's if you three didn't scar me enough as was."

"Hey, not my fault you girls liked snooping around…" Benezia said with a similar grin, both of them cringing slightly at the final, somewhat muffled yelp of climax from the other side of the solid wall. A few minutes later, the shower shut off and after another few minutes Rila's twin and her lover came in, Jaran with a towel wrapped around his waist and Falere with the same, as they were still flushed and warm from their shower time. Both of them slumped into the loveseat, Falere's head settling in Jaran's lap while he stroked her fringe softly in the still-present afterglow. They both took their eyes off one another for a moment when Benezia cleared her throat. What ensued was Rila and Benezia falling over one another in the sofa laughing their heads off when the couple did a double-take and then flushed even pinker or more purple than they had been.

"Sorry, Lady Benezia, we didn't realize you were going to drop by." Jaran stated nervously, taking his hands off his lover before she made a noise of annoyance and pulled them back to her. In his mind he was thinking _I don't want to die so young… putting my hands on your body isn't really smart when it's right in front of your dad._

Falere's reply was _That's one of the larger differences between Asari and humans, fathers are typically quite happy when their daughters bring home mates, so long as those mates are decent people._ That was when Jaran relaxed enough for her to settle his hands over her exposed breasts.

"I think Falere is in a mode where she's showing off what's hers." Rila stated as she watched her own face roll its eyes and shift slightly in the Aeon-born Cybran's lap.

"And so she should be." Jaran stated simply.

"The biggest problem with Aeon men is that they're too submissive…" Rila remarked to her father, who smirked viciously. "They only ever dominate when women order them to be."

"That sounds perfect for my baby girl, Ardat-Yakshi tend to be dominant and only rarely like being submissive, and those rare times are for fun and variety, you should consider finding a Cybran with Aeon background yourself, Rila."

"Not all Aeon men are totally submissive, there are a few that don't melt In their woman's hands like butter, and the Coalition these days is somewhat female-dominated anyways, it doesn't really matter which faction the guy or girl's from as long as he or she is a decent person… well they have to have Cybran implants to survive being with your daughters but… even if I didn't have the implants, I would gladly get them just for Falere." She sat up and nuzzled him affectionately at that, knowing from her delving into his mind just how much it hurt to get the implants if you were past a certain age, typically the full pain would be for those after puberty, those assimilated at the normal age of five to eight were unaffected. Rila made fake gagging motions at that while Benezia just smiled softly.

"Real mature, big sister." Falere commented.

Rila glowered at her twin "I'm only a few minutes older, Falere."

"That doesn't stop you from acting overprotective."

Rila sighed and rubbed her temples "When are you guys getting married and moving out?"

"We're not." Falere stated simply, making her boyfriend freeze up and frown at her.

"I thought…" Jaran Kael was silenced when Falere put a finger to his lips.

"I meant that this apartment is big enough for a family, two families even, we have SIX bedrooms! Asari aren't as crazy about privacy as humans, hell, I used to take turns on the computer in our room when I was younger to relieve stress." By this point, the older Kael family member was gaping, as was Thalia from where she watched out of the screen of Rila's computer. The two women had been talking before Benezia had happened to drop by.

"You mean you two had an incestuous relationship?" Thalia commented form the screen, her eyes huge.

Falere shrugged "Well, somewhat, we kind of physically experimented a few times, but… Jaran, stop fantasizing."

"Huh, I wasn't fantasizing…" Jaran trailed off as Falere glared at him, he honestly hadn't, but her look was intimidating enough that he shut up anyways.

"Falere, I can see him from here and let me tell you. _That_ is my brother's horrified beyond recognition face, the same face he had when he realized I manhandled him into coming with me to Procyon to get him assimilated to save his life. Of course, I had to recruit Ivan and Dominic to help get him past customs, since it was kind of obvious I beat him into unconsciousness…" Thalia stated, having a bad feeling about this revelation.

"Most Asari youngsters when they are extremely close in age tend to start experimenting at around age thirty or so, and yes Asari physical development is just under twice as long in terms of age as humans." Benezia explained "Even though me, Sam and Aethyta collectively facepalmed when we realized what they were up to, it's well known that experimenting with what feels good is very normal, especially identical twins since they tend to have the same sensitivities, so it's like experimenting with yourself, except there's a mouth available. Most parents only bother stepping in and breaking it up if it goes beyond about age fifty or so. Fortunately they stopped after only a few times, finding it too weird."

"Okay, so I don't need to worry about Rila springing something on me, huh?" Jaran commented, scooting away form Rila just a little bit, as far as he could go with Falere's arms sealed around him.

"No you don't, even though we're identical in pretty much everything else, you'll find that my tastes are closer to home." Rila stated "And just saying Mom I just mean I prefer feminine."

"Good, otherwise we'd have a bit of a problem on our hands." Falere stated bluntly, making everyone chuckle a bit.

"Well Jaran I look forward to getting that wedding invitation, since she's already laid claim to you and you've accepted you might as well tie the knot already." Thalia commented. "See you later guys…"

"Yeah, it would be nice to have a normal marriage in the family." Benezia put in her piece. "It was nice talking to you, Thalia."

"Same to you, bye guys… oh, and Jaran, please turn on the soundproofing next time. Your first few rounds… she's a screamer isn't she?" Thalia winked before cutting the link with a swish of her brown hair.

"How do you rate his skills?" Rila asked right after Thalia's visage vanished form her computer screen. "Scale of one to ten, ten being the best?"

"You do realize I'm right here, don't you?" Jaran stated, blushing rather profusely, after pushing her off his shoulder and getting up.

Falere shrugged, she ignored Jaran for the moment "Probably nine or so, poor Jaran hasn't had much practice thanks to his genetic problem, and neither have I, but we'll get better. Jaran, Asari talking about their partners' sexual skills is a sign of pride in the relationship, don't get mad…" She pouted at him while Benezia coughed discreetly at the sudden spike in pheromone and psychic influence levels in the room. Rila had her lips pursed tightly as if trying not to burst into laughter.

Jaran was looking around with a frown "Well I guess that's alright then… where's my apron? And what do you want for lunch?"

Falere would have liked to faceplant, but for the fact that she realized she'd been sitting on Jaran's apron and handed it over "Whatever you make would be fine… don't work yourself too hard though, we have lots of more productive ways to use your energy later." The man nodded with a warm smile that never failed to make his lover feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, tying the piece of cloth around his front before moving off to prepare lunch.

Falere was really glad Jaran had put on boxers before leaving the bathroom, otherwise she'd need to worry about him burning himself, she sighed contentedly as she watched his body move around the kitchen, visible from where she was sitting but not quite from where her father and twin were. Speaking of Rila… "You have that man wrapped around your finger, don't you?"

"For the record, Rila, I am familiar with the concept that I AM lunch." Jaran said from the kitchen "But there isn't that much of me to go around."

"Impressive." Benezia noted "most men would say the opposite when faced with twins, even if one is only expressing sarcastic interest."

"Well I'm not most men, most men aren't born Aeon and then get dragged yelling and screaming, and more or less unconscious from Thalia hitting them over the head to get assimilated into the Cybran Nation." Jaran stated, though it was rather difficult to hear over the crackling of stir-frying food and the humming of the extra ventilators installed in kitchens amped up to maximum.

"Indeed…"

* * *

"This is delicious." Benezia stated before returning to teasing her daughter "I'd think you'd find it not quite as delicious as your boyfriend is though, Falere."

"Well…" Falere actually seemed to think about it for a bit "I wouldn't say that, this tastes better. But to each his own I guess."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm the feminine one in this relationship?" Jaran muttered.

"That's because you are, Jaran." A new voice chimed in as someone else… several someones else, intruded into the home.

"Crystal! Liara! John! Welcome…" Benezia spread her arms and wrapped her youngest daughter, the only one who she'd actually pushed out of her own body, in a huge hug. "You have some light you can shed on this matter?"

"The Librarian does not, but I do." The image of the woman (if she could be called that) who'd lived in the home across the hall from them for eight hundred years appeared, smirking. "In my particular edition, my mother and father were still you and… ahem, a certain someone that I presume you haven't told her of yet. Liara, don't push, you'll know when it's appropriate for you to know." She warned the latest edition of herself off before turning to a contemporary edition of her own mother "Anyways, I figured out why you two stuck to each other like glue was because you were each basically half a soul and being together made it feel… made you feel… whole again. Samara's typically a supporting cast member if my visions of the past are true, but most of the time she'd be somewhat more than friends with you two if she was present, though in my generation she was not. Anyhow, you three got so close in this cycle because you two were reaching out for another presence, one spirit to another, and she was the closest." The Legendary Commander shrugged, preening her under-ear spike-like organs carefully with blue-gloved hands, watching them with calm orange eyes. "In my generation, Falere was just Fal, and _HIS_ 'master' was a young woman named Jaren." The Commander had to use her Psychic powers to catch the forks and spoons the two lovebirds had been using before they fell, she put the implements back in their bowls before "Needless to say they were rather more than friends… I think Jaren actually enjoyed the fact that she was so weak and fragile compared to you, Fal… or should I say Falere now."

Falere's jaw was still nearly dislocating itself "You mean… I was a MALE?" She sputtered "What about Rila then?"

"Well in that particular edition, you were NOT identical twins… you guys were very similar, but not identical, though still twins, rare among my people…" the Commander responded simply. "Rila was still female, but Mir… was a guy."

"WHAT?" A loud shout came form the hallway, actually, three loud shouts. Apparently Hannah, Mirala and Samara had run out of other things to do by now and had decided to show up for a visit… and Liara forgot to close the door, ergo no privacy.

"Oh great, family reunion time…" John sighed "James is SO lucky…"

_Don't worry, we've already agreed on waiting until after the Reaper War to be bonded and they won't change our minds…_ Liara said mentally as they braced themselves.

* * *

_Just Over 900 Floors Above Previous Location…_

"John is SO lucky…" James Shepard sighed as he, Thane, Grunt, Jacob, Garrus, Mordin and Legion were reduced to pack mules "Ya know, I thought it was funny when Kaidan complained about the shopping spree Ashley typically went on once per year, now, I think not."

"This platform must concur, though this platform is currently practicing escapism via interaction with the Cybran Network." Legion stated in its normal monotone despite the closet he had rented (from a furniture store owner who looked about to laugh his ass off) stuck on his back being FULL of stuff "Very interesting that emotions, volatile organic impulses, logic and miscellaneous other things can combine with good balance for a primarily socialist total democratic system that actually works… apparently not only possible for AIs…"

Kelly had suggested this outing, Kasumi had immediately pitched in that they hadn't had a chance to shop properly for years thanks to constant missions, and Miranda had reluctantly agreed that it was time to teach Tali how to shop. Needless to say, Jack had agreed "to torture the men" (insert cracking knuckles here), she wasn't the strongest psychic onboard, after the three Asari, but she was certainly the craziest, not including Liara when John is in danger. She was also responsible for much of the more fun and thrilling things the crew did, which included teaching EDI all about shopping apparently. The AI-turned woman hadn't had a chance to shop yet, and that wasn't the only blonde problem the crew had. Jedore had been raised in the Independent Colonies, so shopping in a Coalition, particularly a Cybran, mall was… dauntingly huge for her, and it brought the impulse to buy whatever she found useful.

Perhaps the largest problem was the amount of money the women had lying around with all the missions… either that or, while gesturing around trying to lecture EDI on the use of whips, Kelly accidentally wrecking a leather whip. At least she could make the weak excuse of "I didn't realize the end landed in the burger my Krogan friend was about to chomp down on so he ate part of it." That was a rather large problem when Kelly had yanked her arm forward and Grunt took a moment too long to realize that he shouldn't have chomped down so tight on the thing trying to slither out of his mouth. The Krogan had ended up face-planting on the fetish store's floor with a rather large thump… and some yelling and cursing afterward.

Other than that, things were going… acceptably, though James decided that he'd prefer shopping with Tali _alone_ than to become a portable lingerie rack when the women were teaching Tali everything there was to know about the bits of fabric. Though he was certain they did not mean it, Grunt attempting to imitate a pirate's eye-patch with a thong was probably the finniest thing of the day. Either that, or it was Garrus bashing his head against the change-room wall repeatedly in sheer exasperation at the previous thing and accidentally knocking down the flimsy changing stall wall with too much force… and then getting mutilated by a horde of angry professional killer women. He though Garrus's face would never look the same again. The Turian, whose mandibles were currently functioning as coat hangar racks (coats included), didn't want to risk opening his mouth to agree in case they snapped off.

* * *

A/N: What happens when you take the female members of the Crew shopping after over a year without it: Madness.

Not gonna bother saying Review. For Thirteenth, the next update will likely be Reaper War Era, and for ME: GC what other species CAN I write? Reapers don't count, because I'm not writing them. Batarians are stepped on a lot, Rachni… NO, what else can I write? The Coalition's general opinions on the Galaxy At Large? I hope the C7 part of the Codex explains why to portray opinion I mostly use the main commanders, because they are basically political top dogs. This is why I'm going to work on other projects in the meantime, waiting for ME3, HOTS and maybe even LOTV (just for all ME3 DLC packs). I have my Pokémon, C&C, and after that probably a WOW project to work on, it may take a long time… Pokémon I'm guessing about total 400-500K all 4 arcs (for now, it's only one past cycle). C&C is probably 150K _each_ of 7 arcs, and WOW may be another 150K, HOTS is another 100-150K so we're looking at somewhere around 1.8 million words, easily at least a year and a half of work lined up (going into Grade 12 year isn't as relaxed as Grade 11) right there, though I'll use my pre-college summer pounding away at the keyboard since I have everything planned already.

To commit to eventually doing and finishing a project, I either plan it out fully beforehand and leave the blueprints there or put out a chapter or two immediately. For WOW I'll be doing the latter, be on the lookout to Alert if you don't have me on Author Alert. I may not be as good at momentum as last year, but just stay with me, averaging 100K a month isn't easy… and I'll probably average 60K a month this year. Unless you want smaller chapters than my usual 5000-6000 words (a few over 10K, a few 3000-4000) and more updates of said smaller chapters, I can't help you.

Tell me what I should do… in a review.


End file.
